The Troubles of Teenage Life
by i-love-naruto-yaoi
Summary: “Let him go, Sai,” Sasuke said. “Thanks, Sasuke.” Turning to face Naruto, Sasuke glared, which wholly confused the blond. “Get out of here, loser.” why is sasuke acting like this when he and naruto are supposed to be friends forever?
1. Night Before the First Day of School

**BEGIN CHAPTER 1 BEGIN CHAPTER 1 BEGIN CHAPTER 1 BEGIN CHAPTER 1 BEGIN CHAPTER 1 BEGIN CHAPTER 1**

The blonde boy finished stuffing all his textbooks, binders, notebooks, and pencils in his backpack. Smiling, he couldn't wait until tomorrow, his first day as a freshman at Konoha High School. He was a bit nervous about being in a new environment, but his joy of seeing all his middle school friends, a few high school friends, and meeting new people overpowered any negative feelings.

**(knock, knock, knock)**

Naruto looked towards his door and said, "It's open!"

A beautiful woman with long blonde hair opened the door. "Are you all set for your first day of school?"

"Yup! Believe it!" exclaimed the teenager. "I can't wait until tomorrow! I'm going to have a blast!"

"That's good," replied his foster mom smiling. "Your dad says 'have fun tomorrow, but not _too_ much fun.'"

Her son gave her a confused look. "Eh? He knows I don't play as much pranks as I used to! He doesn't have to worry about me! Believe it!"

His mom looked towards the ground with closed eyes, shaking her head to herself as a huge grin formed on her face. _Ah, to be young and naïve_ she thought. _Jiraiya is such a pervert_ thought Tsunade about her husband. _But I love him anyway. Well, at least we know Naruto won't do anything like_ that_ in a long time. Hm, one of us will have to give him _the talk_ soon. Crap, that's going to be awkward. Well, at least it will be for _me; Jiraiya _on the other hand might have too much of a good time with the subject and _corrupt_ our son's mind._

Tsunade rubbed her temples as she felt a migraine coming on. Who would give her son the talk? _Whatever. Hopefully, we won't have to talk to him about _it_ anytime soon._

"Mom? Are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, yes. Thanks. Off to bed now! You have a big day tomorrow! I'll wake you up and bring you to school. Then, I'll head to work. The company has to prepare for an upcoming meeting with another corporation," informed Tsunade to her son.

"Okily! Goodnight!" responded her son while slipping under his bedsheets. Tsunade watched and waited until her son was settled and comfy before turning off his lights, whispering "goodnight," and quietly shutting his door.

Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day.

**END CHAPTER 1 END CHAPTER 1 END CHAPTER 1 END CHAPTER 1 END CHAPTER 1**

Wow, that was short.

Originally, I was thinking that naru was gonna be an orphan and tsunade juss checked up on him every now and then. Woww, didn't think I used jiraiya in the story. W/e. my story will be fine.


	2. Thoughts of the Morrow and A Flashback

**BEGIN CHAPTER 2 BEGIN CHAPTER 2 BEGIN CHAPTER 2 BEGIN CHAPTER 2 BEGIN CHAPTER 2 BEGIN CHAPTER 2**

Naruto lay in bed, unable to sleep due to his excitement for the first day of school. He could just imagine how tomorrow would unravel. First, of course, he'd eat ramen for breakfast. Second, he'd get ready for school. Third, his mom would drop him off at school. After that, if he had time, he'd walk around campus, locating where his classes would be. Or, if he was lucky, he'd bump into his fellow freshman friends or some of his sophomore friends.

The blonde contained a squeal that escaped his throat. Boy, was he excited. In each of his six classes, he knew he had at least one friend in the class. He had first period English with Hyuugi Hinata, second period modern world history with Sabaku Gaara, third period biology with Aburame Shino, and fourth period physical education with Nara Shikamaru.

After approximately four hours of classes would come the fox lover's favorite time of the day: lunch! His friends and him decided at the end of eighth grade that they'd all sit together. Whoever found a great table that would fit at least fifteen people would call everyone else on their cell and tell them where the table was located. _Hm,_ thought Naruto _maybe if I get to school early tomorrow, I could find a table for us! I'll have to see what happens tomorrow._

Following lunch was fifth period algebra two with Akimichi Chouji. Finally, sixth period was photography, which the blonde had with his prankster buddy Inuzuka Kiba.

_Hehehe_ laughed Naruto in his head. _I wonder what pranks the dog boy has thought of over the summer?_

Thinking about summer saddened the young boy—not because it was ending and school was starting but because he didn't have a chance to see one of his closest friends at all during the summer vacation. Uchiha Sasuke was that friend.

The last time he and Naruto spoke was the last day of school. The ebony-haired boy simply told the blonde that he could not see him at all during vacation because he was too busy with basketball practice. Naruto was going to whine and give a pout to his friend, but said friend turned on his heel and walked away.

_He must have really been busy that day_ thought Naruto _that he couldn't talk me to me. No worries! Tomorrow, we'll hang out just like old times! We could talk about our summers just like we've been doing for the past nine years!_

Sleepily, Naruto's mind drifted to memories of the intelligent and athletic boy.

**_Begin Flashback_**

_An adorable four-year-old blonde boy swung, with the aid of pushes from his mom, on the swing in the public park. All the children in the park were having fun—all except one; _that_ one boy stood out among the rest. He sat in a sandbox alone, doing nothing. Simply sitting there. _

_That was odd to young Naruto. He looked around the park. One boy was playing with his older sister, mom, and their dogs. Another boy was capturing bugs in a plastic jar. One more boy, with his hair tied in a ponytail, was laying on his back, watching the clouds roll slowly through the sky, as a chubbier boy was eating potato chips at his side. **Everyone **seemed to be having fun except the boy in the sandbox._

_"Mommy?" asked the boy._

_"Hm?"_

_"Can I play in the sandbox?"_

_His mom stopped the swing from moving. She looked towards the sandbox and saw young Uchiha Sasuke. She recognized him from the news and newspapers. His parents, owners of a successful corporation, were recently in a deadly car accident that killed them both. The corporation and everything the older Uchihas owned were inherited and split by their two sons Itachi and Sasuke._

_The female doctor observed their surroundings and did not notice the older Uchiha anywhere. _Perhaps the young Uchiha is with a sitter_ thought Tsunade._

_"Mommy," whined the little blonde. "Please, pretty please, can I play wi—in the sandbox?"_

_"Hm," wondered his mother. _Naru wants to play _with_ him? I **hope** there's no harm in that. If the Uchiha does anything to hurt Naru…_ She didn't know what exactly she'd do, especially to a four-year-old who just lost his parents, all she knew was she'd pull her son away if the other boy was unstable._

_"…ease! Please!" Tsunade was brought out of her thoughts by her son's begging._

_She sighed. "Sure."_

_Her son ran over to the sandbox. Upon reaching it, he tripped over one edge of the box and fell into the sand._

_"Ow," he moaned._

_"Usuratonkachi," muttered the other young boy._

_Naruto looked up and stared at the boy. _Wow. He's pwetty thought Naruto. _Naruto blushed at the thought and turned his face towards the sand._

_"Naruto! Naruto!" Naruto whipped his head around and saw his mom running towards him. She reached him and bombarded him with question. "Are you okay? What happened? Can you walk? How are your hands? Does your…."_

_"Mom!" complained the blonde, embarrassed that his mom was babying him in front of the other boy. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Look," he started, standing up, "all good! Nothing's wrong! Believe it!"_

_His mom inspected him for a few minutes before diagnosing that he, indeed, was fine._

_"Alright, alright. I'll be over there," she said and pointed to a bench nearby, "if you need me. Alright?"_

_"Alright, alright. I love you."_

_"I love you, too," she copied before kissing him atop his head. "Have fun." She then walked towards the empty bench._

_Naruto covered his face, knowing it was red. He peeked his eyes through his small fingers and noticed the raven-haired boy looking at him. He uncovered his face and smiled at the boy._

_"Hi!" voiced the blonde._

_Sasuke was taken aback at the greeting. No one ever sounded or looked that friendly when they greeted him._

_"My name's Naruto!" Naruto held out his hand. "What's yours?"_

_Sasuke stared at the outstretched hand and then stared at Naruto. _He has a nice smile_ thought Sasuke. The smile made Sasuke smile and place his hand into Naruto's for a handshake. "I'm S-sasuke," he shyly said, lightly shaking his hand._

_"Nice to meet you, Sasuke!" Naruto said, his smile becoming even bigger. "Is your mom here? Maybe our moms can meet!"_

_Sasuke stiffened at the comment and looked down at the sand. "My parents are dead," he said quietly._

_Naruto's eyes opened wide at the comment. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sasuke!" He put his arms around Sasuke in a big hug._

_Again, Sasuke stiffened, this time at the physical contact. "What, what are you doing?" he asked._

_"Oh!" screamed Naruto and released Sasuke. He scratched the back of his blonde head and said, "Sorry. You don't like being touched?"_

_Sasuke couldn't say he didn't like being touched; he just wasn't _used_ to being touched affectionately. One thing Sasuke knew was: he liked it when the blonde hugged him._

_"Umm," stalled the Uchiha, blushing. "I, I, I don't know."_

_"Oh, okay. Then I won't touch you."_

_"No!"_

_"What?"_

_"I mean, I, I like, I like you touching me."_

_"Oh! Okay then!" Naruto smiled and gave Sasuke a hug that both melted into. "You're my first friend," admitted the blonde._

_"Really?" asked Sasuke with incredulity. _I would think someone as nice as him would have a lot of friends.

_"Yeah."_

_Sasuke processed the information and was hesitant before admitting, "You're my first friend, too."_

_Naruto let go of Sasuke, much to Sasuke's dismay, and said, "We'll be best friends forever, right?"_

_Sasuke smiled. "Believe it!" he said happily, using the term Naruto said to his mom._

**_End Flashback_**

_Sasuke_ thought Naruto's mind before finally drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

**END CHAPTER 2 END CHAPTER 2 END CHAPTER 2 END CHAPTER 2 END CHAPTER 2 END CHAPTER 2**


	3. Waking Up and On Campus

**BEGIN CHAPTER 3 BEGIN CHAPTER 3 BEGIN CHAPTER 3 BEGIN CHAPTER 3 BEGIN CHAPTER 3**

Beep. Beep. Beep, beep. Beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

Naruto woke up as his alarm clock was reaching its maximum sound potential. He sleepily raised an arm to push down the snooze button of his clock. _Just five more minutes and I'll get up_ he thought.

Knock, knock, knock.

Naruto groaned, pulling his bedcovers over his head.d His mom opened his door and looked at her son.

"Naruto," she whispered, "wakie, wakie. First day of school. I made you pork ramen."

Reminded that today was the first day of school and upon hearing the word 'ramen,' Naruto sprang up from bed.

"I knew that would get you up," chuckled his mom before closing his door.

_Ahh! _screamed Naruto's mind in anticipation. _First day of school! It's the first day of school! I can't wait. _He headed to the bathroom, washed up, and returned to his room, locking the door. He proceeded to change into black boxers, loose dark blue jeans, an orange short-sleeve shirt, and a pair of white socks. After changing, he headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

He sat down at the kitchen table and his mom placed a big bowl of pork ramen before him. The blonde boy's eyes shined as he eyed the broth, noodle, and pork confection hungrily.

Picking up his plastic chopsticks, he yelled, "Itadakimasu!" In a matter of matters, he slurped up every last piece and drop of his breakfast, moaning, "mmm" after finishing the bowl. "Arigatou, mom!"

"Do itashi mashite," replied his mom. "When do you want to leave for school?" asked his mom.

Naruto looked at his watch. Seeing 7:15 a.m., he asked, "Five minutes?"

"Sure," confirmed his mom.

Her son smiled at her and then leapt up from his seat and went to his room. Making sure he had all his school supplies and other necessities in his backpack, he carried it to the kitchen to get his lunch.

"Here you go," communicated his mom while handing him a thermos. "It's pork ramen."

"Thanks!" said the blonde appreciatively. "You're the best!"

"Yes, I know I am," laughed his mom. "All ready to go?"

"Yup! Believe it!"

The pair of blondes headed out and into their silver Honda. The drive to school was quiet as the two listened to instrumental songs composed by Toshiro Masuda. As one song ended as was about to begin the following song, Tsunade quickly clicked the skip button.

"Eh?" asked her son, looking at her while she kept her eyes on the road. "Why'd you skip a song?"

"I know what the next song is. It'll bring your spirit down and I don't want that on your first day of school."

"Oh," understood her son. "What's the name of the song you skipped?"

"Sadness and Sorrow."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess a song with a title like that _would _bring down my spirit."

A few minutes later, the car was put into park and Naruto realized he was across the street from Konoha High School. He deeply inhaled and then exhaled. _First day of high school._

"Be careful and be nice to everyone! Don't— "

" 'Take drugs or do any pranks that will get you suspended.' I know, I know. Don't worry, mom." He unbuckled his seatbelt and kissed his mom on the cheek. "I'll be fine. Believe it!"

"I'll believe it when I see you home in one piece this evening. Now, press the crosswalk signal and cross the street when the post across the street shows a walking person. Bye, Naru."

_I know how to cross the street! _thought Naruto. _Why would I be careless when crossing the street? I'd probably died if I were careless! _He exited the car and shut the door, waving to his mom before walking to the crosswalk signal and pressing it. The streetlight turned red and the post across the street showed the image of a walking person. Waving one last time to his mom, he crossed the street, finally stepping foot on campus.

He looked at his watch: 7:30 a.m. He had 30 minutes before first period started.

_Hm, what should I do before class starts?_

**END CHAPTER 3 END CHAPTER 3 END CHAPTER 3 END CHAPTER 3 END CHAPTER 3 END CHAPTER 3**


	4. Basketball Practice and Fangirls

**BEGIN CHAPTER 4 BEGIN CHAPTER 4 BEGIN CHAPTER 4 BEGIN CHAPTER 4 BEGIN CHAPTER 4 BEGIN CHAPTER 4**

Naruto walked aimlessly around campus, his legs leading him to no particular place. Only upon hearing excited shouts did Naruto force his feet to move in a certain direction.

"Here…"

"…I'm open…"

"Pass it to me!"

Following the voices, Naruto found himself at the entrance of the school's gymnasium.

"Ah!" squealed energized girls.

"Go, Sai!"

"Go, Sasuke!"

"Sasuke! You rule! Go, go, go!"

_Sasuke!_ thought the overjoyed Naruto. He entered the gym and headed to the bleachers that faced the court. The girls that were jumping and cheering on the gym's floor eyed him before turning their backs to him. Though they were whispering, Naruto could hear them, despite being near the top of the bleachers, without difficulty. Ever since he could remember, he had always possessed keen senses.

"What's he doing here?" pried a teen with short pink hair.

"Is he from another school and he's spying on our team?" asked a beautiful female with long blonde hair.

"Maybe he's friends with someone on the team?" suggested a brunette.

All of the other girls turned on her and gave her a look.

"_Him_? Friends with one of these _hot_ basketball players?"

"Are you _high_?!"

"Gomen! I don't know what I was thinking! Gosh, who'd be friends with someone who wears an _orange _shirt? That's, like, the most ugliest color in the world!"

Naruto averted his eyes to the game as the girls all turned their heads in his direction. They bore disgusted expressions.

"Like, oh my gosh, that is, like, the most ugliest shirt in the history of the world!"

"Like, totally! God, he must really be a loser!"

Naruto droned them out, not wanting to become upset or saddened on his first day of school. He continued to watch the basketball game that was before him, observing all of Sasuke's fluid movements.

"Go, Sasuke!" yelled a fangirl as Sasuke stole the ball from his opponent and began running in the opposite direction. "Ten more seconds before the bell rings!"

Seeing opponents coming at him from the front, right, and left, and knowing another was on his tail, Sasuke faked heading between the boys to the right and in front of him. With lightning speed, he shifted to the left and threw the ball over his opponent's head and caught it.

Outrunning his opponents, Sasuke found an open spot and sent the ball flying in the direction of the net. Swish.

"Ah!!" screamed girls at the top of their lungs.

"You're the best, Sasuke!"

"I love you!"

Naruto simply smiled. He knew Sasuke would find a way to make the shot.

"Good practice!" yelled the coach. "Hit the showers! Fifteen minutes before first period starts!"

Heading towards the gym's surface, Naruto couldn't wait to talk to Sasuke. Though he was excited to see his raven-haired friend, he kept a safe pace while going down the bleachers. Numerous people knew that Naruto was a klutz, always tripping over his own feet. Heck, Naruto even knows and admits he's a klutz. So, of course, being a klutz while going down the bleachers requires safety on the blonde's part.

As he was slowly making his way down, Naruto saw Sasuke look in his direction. Naruto excitedly waved to him but ceased his arm's movement in the air when Sasuke turned to follow his teammates. _Hm, guess he didn't see me _thought Naruto sadly. _No worries! I'll find him later! Believe it! _A huge grinned plastered on his face, Naruto finally reached the bottom of the bleachers. His ears almost bled when he the high-pitched and overly-excited screams of the fangirls.

"Oh, my God!!! He is so hot!" practically screamed all the girls.

"I know! Not only that, I heard he's smart!" added a girl.

"And rich!" chimed in another.

"I heard he's also good in bed!"

The girls turned to the girl who said that. It was the same girl who made the comment earlier that Naruto was friends with one of the basketball players.

"Gomen!" she responded quickly. "I don't—" she was cut off as other girls began squealing.

"Oh, Kami-sama! I can only imagine how good he is in bed!"

"Shit, shit, shit. He's so damn hot!"

"And he's taking a shower right now!"

"Ahhhhhh!" screamed the girls. Some even fainted, falling on the ground with huge grins on their faces.

"He's going to be mine," declared the pink-haired girl.

The girl with blonde hair pushed her. "Yeah right, forehead girl! He's going to be mine!"

The blonde was pushed back by her rival. "Keep dreaming, Ino-pig!"

They kept bickering for Naruto knows how long. He left before they really started getting at it or talking more about "hot" guys.

Stepping outside the gymnasium, Naruto tilted his left wrist towards him. _7:50 A.M._ _Ten minutes to get to class_. _What should I do now? _pondered Naruto to himself. _Eh, might as well head to class. Don't wanna be late._

After deciding that, Naruto headed to room C-3 for English with Hatake Kakashi. _I can't wait to see Hinata! I can ask her how she's been doing and how Neji's been!_

Smiling brightly, Naruto made it to C-3 at 7:57 A.M. and was met with twenty other students waiting outside C-3.

"Hey, Naruto!" said Hinata happily. Though she said it somewhat quietly in the noisy hallway, Naruto's hearing picked it up.

"Yo, Hinata!" he replied and gave her a hug which caused her to blush a little. "What's up?"

"Not much. Oh, I told Neji I had English with you with _Hatake Kakashi_ and he told me that I could probably sleep late and wake up late without worries."

"Oh?" asked Naruto confused. "Why is that?"

"He's usually taking care of his _dolphin_, which I'm not sure what Neji meant by that, so don't ask me, so Kakashi-sensei is often late. _Really _late."

"That's horrible! How are we to learn if he's "_really_ late" all the time?"

"I'm not sure, but according to Neji, Kakashi-sensei's dolphin's has been trying to get him to school on time."

Naruto gave her a quizzical laugh before laughing, which Hinata joined in seconds later, recalling the odd conversation.

**END CHAPTER 4 END CHAPTER 4 END CHAPTER 4 END CHAPTER 4 END CHAPTER 4 END CHAPTER 4**


	5. First Period with Another Ramen Lover

**BEGIN CHAPTER 5 BEGIN CHAPTER 5 BEGIN CHAPTER 5 BEGIN CHAPTER 5 BEGIN CHAPTER 5**

After standing against the hallway wall for thirty minutes, Naruto's legs gave out on him, causing him to slide down the wall, his knees now bent and against his chest.

He groaned loudly. "It's 8:30! First period is more than half way over!" He looked over to Hinata whose head slowly began nodding to and fro. Naruto looked at the other students. They seemed to be in similar states as him in Hinata. _Geez! We'll all probably be asleep by the time Kakashi-sensei gets here!_

"Yo!" someone voiced happily.

_Where did he come from? _thought Naruto. _It's like he just popped in out of n where!_

"Sorry I was late, students," he started while rubbing the back of his head. "You see, I was—"

"Kakashi! The least you could do is let these students into an air-conditioned classroom! They've been standing out here for more than half an hour!" bellowed a male with brown hair in a ponytail and a large scar across his face, mainly over his nose.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei! You're right, but shouldn't you be tending to your students? They must feel as hot as my students."

Iruka shook his head. "I don't have a first period class. First period is my conference period. Now, _get to it_," he said angrily.

"Righto! Ja ne, _Iruka_," replied Kakashi with a huge smile.

Iruka grunted, his face slightly red. _He must be really upset that this teacher was late _assumed Naruto.

"Alright, kids," Kakashi said while unlocking the door. Opening the door, he motioned the students in, "Welcome to English. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I will be your English teacher for your freshman year."

Students filed into the classroom, sitting at random desks and slumping into them.

"Ah," moaned a student once sitting down on the plastic chair with metal legs and resting his upper body on the desk. "Nice and cool."

Other students saw him and ran quickly to sit down as well. "Ahh," they moaned in relief as their warm bodies touched the cool surfaces.

Kakashi, seeing his students with their faces against their desks, yelled angrily, "What do you all think you're doing?! This is an English class! Not your bed or your desk at home!" He looked at the students whose heads were previously on their desks and pointed at several students while screaming, "You! You! You! Detention!"

Everybody was in silence at this point. "Do you understand," asked Kakashi pointedly. "Or did you think I was joking?"

Kakashi scanned the room. Every single student held fear in their eyes. _Oops, I guess I overdid it_ thought Kakashi.

He added quickly, "Because I was!"

"What?!" several students looked at the teacher and to each other.

"Haha. Sorry, kids, I was just kidding. Bad joke, bad joke. Gomen. Haha. Let me give you some advice, though. Do not, and I say **do not** sleep in Iruka-sensei's class if you have him for Algebra 2. He will give you detention and make it _heck_ for you."

"_Heck" for us? It appears that Kakashi-sensei won't cuss in front of us._

Kakashi looked to the door. "It looks like we have ten minutes more of class. How about we all take this time to get to know each other?" _How did he know the time? _Naruto wondered. _Oh, _realized Naruto, _the clock's by the door. Hehe _laughed Naruto inwardly.

"Who would like to begin?"

Naruto looked around the room. Everybody seemed drowsy. He stood up abruptly, causing others to shift their eyes toward him. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I love ramen! Pork ramen, miso ramen, chicken ramen, shrimp ramen, all kinds of ramen! I can eat ramen for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, supper, as a snack! I can eat it all al—"  
"All day?" Kakashi added, finishing Naruto's statement. He laughed and the others laughed as well.

"Believe it!" replied the excited blonde.

"Alright," Kakashi continued, still chuckling a bit from the blonde's love profession of ramen, "who's next?" He turned to Naruto and whispered gratefully, "And thank you, Naruto, for starting us off." He scanned the room and failed to see any volunteers. He threatened, "If no one volunteers, I'm going to project the roster, from the computer and lightbox, onto the front board." The students appeared bored and uncaring. "And for those of you who don't know how _these _rosters work, let me tell you. It has your ID picture that was taken of you in the summer as well as your name." Still, nobody raised their hand or voiced any greetings. "Alrighty, then," sighed Kakashi before becoming jovial again. "I bet everybody would love to see how your ID pictures look!"

He smiled while humming and turning on the lightbox. "Be patient kids. It'll only be a few more seconds before we can see everyone's _lovely_ pictures." _Haha _laughed Kakashi in his head. _I can't believe they're not volunteering. The lighting used this year to take school the pictures were **horrible**_. _Don't tell me none of the students are conscious of the others seeing their, most likely **ugly**, pictures._

Kakashi was brought out of his thoughts when a girl screamed, "No!" He turned to look at her. Her face was tinged pink and she looked distressed.

"Uh hm?" voiced Kakashi, looking at her.

She hesitated before growling, "My name is Koda Yukana. I like playing soccer." She sat down, letting a 'humph' escape her mouth.

"Now, we're getting somewhere!" exclaimed Kakashi. "One more person and I'll turn off the lightbox."

Another girl, who wore a short black skirt and a red corset-looking shirt, which attracted the attention of the majority of the male students in the class, stood up and said, "My name is Ugada Kotone. I, like," she thought for a moment before finishing with, "ramen."

Naruto looked at her with shocked eyes. She smiled sweetly at him and he smiled back. _Wow, she likes ramen, too! Awesome!_

Kakashi turned off the lightbox. "Let's go, folks. You! Tell everyone your name and something about yourself!"

The boy stood up and spoke, "I'm…."

In a matter of five minutes, the remaining seventeen students all revealed their names and something they liked.

_Brrrrrringggggg._

The bell rang, signaling the end of class and the beginning of passing period. Immediately after standing up, Naruto felt a tap at his back. _I thought Hinata left already?_ He turned around and was met with the beautiful girl who shared the same like of ramen that he did.

"Hi!" Naruto greeted brightly.

"Hi, Naruto," the girl said shyly. _Wow, _thought Naruto, _I'd think a girl this pretty would be smooth around guys._

"So you like ramen?" asked Naruto._ Well, duh, _thought Naruto stupidly, _that's what she told the class._

A smiled formed on her face. "Believe it!" she said.

Naruto would have melted right there. _This girl is awesome! I bet we'll be great friends!_

"I was wondering if, I, could, have, your number?" she asked and looked away, blushing.

"What? Oh. Yeah, sure!" Naruto unzipped his backpack and began searching for a pen and paper.

Kotone giggled. "Here you go," she said softly while handing him a small notepad and pencil. "My teachers in the past have always told me to get the phone numbers of my peers so I could call them if I ever needed help or missed class."

"That's a great idea!" revealed Naruto. "So, um, could I have your number?"

She smiled. "Of course, silly!" She received her notebook and pencil back from Naruto. On a clean sheet of paper in the notebook, she wrote down her number. Tearing out the paper, she gave it to Naruto.

"Call me if you ever need with help anything," she said kindly.

He smiled sweetly. "Arigatou, Kotone!"

"No problem," she replied.

With that, they both headed out the door, chatting happily before saying "Ja!" to each other and heading in opposite directions.

**END CHAPTER 5 END CHAPTER 5 END CHAPTER 5 END CHAPTER 5 END CHAPTER 5 END CHAPTER 5**

Man, that was, kinda long for **one** class scene. Dang, don't tell me I'm gonna be writing long like this for the next classes? Blah.


	6. No One Trusts Sasuke

**BEGIN CHAPTER 6 BEGIN CHAPTER 6 BEGIN CHAPTER 6 BEGIN CHAPTER 6 BEGIN CHAPTER 6**

Entering H-14, Naruto read the whiteboard: Sit anywhere. After reading that, the blonde immediately searched for his red-haired friend. _Bingo!_

"Gaara!" yelled the blonde.

The redhead slowly twisted his head around and his eyes were met with the huge smile of his blonde friend. A small smile, barely visible unless you keenly looked, formed on Gaara's face and he gave a small nod in Naruto's direction, acknowledging his presence.

Reaching his friend, Naruto wrapped his arms around his friend. "Hey, Gaara! I missed you!" After releasing the boy that wore fishnets beneath his regular clothing, Naruto pulled out the chair, adjacent to his friend, from underneath the table. "So how've you been?"

"Well."

"How're Temari and Kankuro? Not fighting are they?"

"Hn. They're fine. They decided that since they have a few classes together, they'd be civil and not bicker. We're all getting along pretty well."

"That's good, that's good. I've read that fraternal twins usual fight with each other, so it's great that Temari and Kankuro aren't fighting!"

"Yeah." Suddenly realizing something, Gaara said, "Oh! We have a lunch table."

"Really? Where is it?"

"Neji told Kankuro, who told me, that is was in the cafeteria. Right when you enter the cafeteria, it's on the left side. Second vertical table from the door."

"Thanks for telling me!" said the appreciative blonde. "Did anybody tell Sasuke?"

Gaara shook his head to the blonde's question and to his thought _does he **still** have a crush on that prick?_

"Okay. I'll find him before or during lunch to tell him to sit with us! Dattebayo! I can't wait to see him! He'll be so excited to see me!"

"I bet he will be," agreed the redhead.

"Alright, settle down class. My name is Baki and I will be teacher for Modern World History…."

Subsequent to parting from Gaara after second period, Naruto headed to biology class.

* * *

"Oi, Naruto," spoke a deep voice. 

Naruto turned 180 degrees in the busy hallway and saw a familiar pair of sunglasses and a big white jacket. Smiling, Naruto hugged his bug-loving friend. "Yo, Shino! What's up?"

"Not much." He added, "You know where we're sitting at lunch, right?"

"Yup! Gaara told me last period."

Nodding his head, Shino said, "Good." Reaching the front of F-1, Shino let Naruto enter the classroom first.

"Where do you want to sit?" Naruto asked the other boy excitedly.

His eyes landing on the teacher, Shino shuddered. _My gosh! The teacher looks, creepy. _Examining the teacher, the bug boy could not help thinking that the teacher reminded him of someone. _Long, greasy hair. Pale, thin face. _Creepy_ face. He reminds me of Professor Snape!_

Shino whispered in response to Naruto's question, "Not near the front. I don't want to be near the teacher."

Naruto looked at the teacher and shuddered, having thoughts akin to Shino's. "Yeah, me neither."

Taking seats neighboring each other, Shino and the blonde sat down.

_Bringgggg._

Upon hearing the bell ending passing period and beginning third period ring, the students quieted down, awaiting the teacher's instructions.

"My name is Orochimaru," articulated a raspy voice. "For those of you who don't know, third period is to be considered your homeroom class and is a few minutes longer than any of your other classes." He continued, speaking of the class's syllabus. He smiled, his creepy smile, at the class and everyone felt a chill run down their spines. "At the end of the year, you will be partnered up to dissect a frog."

"Ewww," groaned several students.

"What if it's against our religion to do _that_?" questioned a boy.

"Oh, and what religion might that be," he asked the boy.

The boy thought for a few moments, but no words escaped his mouth. A handful of students snickered at the boy's attempt to not dissect a frog.

Orochimaru smirked. Oh, how he loved to make students complain and not comply with their whines. He eyed the class and also saw a boy who was smirking.

"You," he voiced towards the middle of the class. Everybody looked around, wondering which one of them he was speaking to.

Shino raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you, the one who think he's cool that he wears sunglasses in class." Some students who did not notice that, looked and laughed, wondering why in the world the boy was wearing shades when he was indoors.

"Yes?" asked Shino, unembarrassed from the students' ridicule.

"How do you feel about dissecting a frog?"

Shino shrugged.

"Do you want to dissect a frog?"

"It doesn't matter to me."

"Right, right. But would you prefer to dissect a frog or not?"

"I'd prefer to."

"And why is that?"

"They eat flies."

Orochimaru was about to ask Shino more questions, but Naruto interrupted, knowing that the questions Orochimaru would ask would lead into a whole discussion about Shino and bugs. "How do you feel aout dissecting frogs?" asked the blonde.

"It doesn't matter to me," he copied Shino, which was practically the truth. He didn't care much for others.

"So you'd dissect other animals or reptiles, too, and wouldn't care?" asked another student.

Hearing that, Orochimaru glared at the class, not at a particular student because he did not know who asked it.

"No," he said coldly and then further added, "I would not dissect a snake."

"Why not?" several questioned.

"Snakes are awesome," he said simply. "Now! We will…."

"I'll see you at lunch, Shino!"

"Ja!" replied the brunette.

* * *

_One more period to go. One more period to go _sing-songed Naruto in his head. _Lunch, lunch, lunch. One more period to go…_

Nearing the locker rooms and gym, Naruto read a paper that was posted on the pole outside the gym and locker room. He moved closer to read it. **_All P.E. students: No dressing out today. Head to gym and sit with class in bleachers._**

_But how will I know which teacher is my teacher? _asked Naruto nervously. He walked into the gym, the same gym that he was in earlier that morning, and looked around. There were bleachers on both sides of the gym _with _students sitting in various places in the bleachers. _Crap! Which class is my class?_

"Do you need help?" asked an older man with a bandage cover his cheeks and nose.

Naruto turned to him and said desperately, "Yes, please."

"Well, I'm Hagane Kotetsu, and I teach sophomore P.E. this period. You not a sophomore, are you?"

The nervous blonde shook his head.

"Alright. Who's your teacher?"

Naruto took out his paper schedule from his pocket. Unfolding it, he read the document for his fourth period class. "I have Maito G.," Naruto told the man.

"Ah, Maito Gai," laughed Kotetsu while shaking his head. Naruto eyed him quizzically. _What's so funny_? "Gai-sensei's class is supposed to be waiting over there," he said, pointing to the bleachers near the other end of the gym. "I hope you have a lot of stamina, kid." Laughing, Kotetsu walked off, meeting up with a man with his bangs pushed to the right side of his face, covering one eye.

_A lot of stamina? _Naruto rubbed his chin, thinking about Kotetsu's comments. _Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I sure as hell have a lot of stamina! Believe it!_

Naruto walked to the bleachers that were near an exit of the gym. Sitting down, he looked occasionally to both sides of the gym, looking for his friend. _Where are you Shikamaru? _Naruto sighed. _I bet he was too lazy to get up this morning _snorted Naruto. The blonde observed the others in the gym.

Across the gym, Naruto spotted Chouji. He was about to scream his lungs out in a greeting, when suddenly, a man in a green jumpsuit appeared.

"Ah, freshman! I can just feel your youth emanating for all of you! Ah, an explosion of youth!" yelled Gai-sensei, falling to his knees, his shoulders moving up and down.

_Is he **crying?!**_Naruto looked to his peers, wondering if they knew what was going on. Everyone else looked as clueless as he did. Well, all except for one boy; he was resting his head on his folded arms, which were resting on his knees.

_He's sleeping? _wondered Naruto. Observing the boy, his hair up in the air because it was in a ponytail, and an all-too familiar green vest, Naruto shouted, "Shikmaru?!"

Groaning, the boy turned his head in the direction where he heard the voice. Opening one eyelid, he groaned again. _Troublesome_ he thought.

"How long have you been here?" inquired Naruto quietly to his lazy friend.

Shikamaru mumbled some words, but all were incoherent to Naruto. The blonde looked to the floor, where the eccentric man was still crying in joy. "What did you say?" asked the blonde.

Groaning loudly, the boy looked at the blonde and said slowly, "I've been here the whole time." _He's been here the whole time? Tch, lazy ass. Been sleeping ever since he got here!_

"Gai-sensei!" yelled a voice in excitement.

Naruto looked to where the voice came from. _Lee? _The blonde looked more closely and realized _yes, that is indeed Rock Lee. Geez, Lee must have had Gai-sensei last year! That's when he started dressing like **that**!_

"Lee!" screamed the man, coming out of his reverie.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

They continued like that before they hugged dramatically.

"What are you doing here?" asked the man.

"Just came to say hi! I better get going. I don't want my teacher to think I died on my way 'to the bathroom'!"

"Great seeing you, my former, most brightest and youthful, pupil! Come visit again!"  
"I will!" promised the teen.

Wiping any tears from his face and eyes, Gai-sensei stood on both feet. "Ah, youth is such a beautiful thing." _What is up with him and youth? He's almost as creepy as Orochimaru, but in a different way…_ "Today we will…And tomorrow, you will be get your lockers in the locker room. The day after that is when we dress out! And then…."

* * *

_LUNCH!!!!!! _screamed Naruto's mind. _Grumble, grumble _went the fox-lover's stomach. Rubbing his stomach, Naruto walked into the cafeteria. The first thing, or person, that he saw was Sasuke. 

_Sasuke!! _squealed Naruto's mind, a beautiful smile now forming on his face. Naruto quickly forgot that he was hungry and headed straight to Sasuke, who was sitting with a few others, at a table in the middle of the cafeteria.

Lee and TenTen ceased waving their hands to Naruto after seeing him pass their table, with not even a glance in their direction.

"Where's he going?" asked TenTen.

With eyes following their blonde friend, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Gaara, and Hinata replied simultaneously, "Sasuke."

Temari and Kankuro, upon hearing the name they detested, looked to where the others were looking.

"_He's_ going to sit with us?" spoke Gaara's sister with contempt.

"Be nice," Gaara told his sister.

"How can someone as nice as Naruto _like _someone like _him_?"

Hinata spoke up, "W-well, Temari, they've been friends for almost a decade now. Sasuke wouldn't hurt Naruto in any way."

"Hm, right," said Temari, disbelieving the younger girl's statement. "I don't trust him," she stated bluntly.

"Me either," agreed her twin brother. "There's something about him. I can't put my finger on it, but I just feel like he's going to do _something _that's going to hurt one of us. I don't know what, but something."

"Aw, come on, you guys," said Chouji while munching on sapid chips. "If Naruto likes him, then there must be something good about him."

Everyone remained silent, thinking about Sasuke's qualities. In all honesty, they all did not quite trust him completely.

Kiba angrily said, "Well, you know what, if that bastard hurts Naruto in any way, I'd beat the shit out of him."

"Kiba-kun!" yelled the white-eyed girl in shock.

"What, who here wouldn't do that same?" he asked, looking around their table of friends.

They nodded their heads. "I'd kick his ass…."

_Troublesome_ sighed Shikamaru. _Nevertheless, I'd not be lazy if someone dared to think of hurting of my friends. I'd kick anyone's ass who hurt one of my friends _thought the sleepy boy angrily, glaring into his arms, which he was using as a pillow.

"Sasuke!" the cohort of friends heard from a distance, gluing their eyes to their friend in a protective manner, and glaring at a certain raven-haired boy.

**END CHAPTER 6 END CHAPTER 6 END CHAPTER 6 END CHAPTER 6 END CHAPTER 6 END CHAPTER 6**

okily, I left out details on what happened in period 2-4 to get to the angst sooner. **ANGST NEXT CHAPTER**! DATTEBAYO!!

Ack, I think Temari and Kankuro will be juniors in this story ( I wanted them to be sophomores (so shika and temari could hook up and there wouldn't be much of an age difference) but she looks so mature/old in the anime series….blah. dunno. I may make them sophomores.

-ILNY


	7. They Knew He Couldn't Be Trusted

Yoyoyo!!!!! Man, it's been like 4 months since I last updated. I was so cheesed off earlier that I decided to not do any work and juss type up a chapter. ENJOY!!!

**BEGIN CHAPTER 7**

The pink-haired and blonde-haired girl immediately held appalled faces when they saw the blond.

"Hey, Sasuke!" greeted Naruto again to his currently stoic friend.

The raven-haired boy, who had natural highlights of a deep navy blue, didn't respond. He simply continued eating his sushi slowly.

Concerned, Naruto reached his hand to quiet boy's shoulder. Sadly, and painfully, it did not reach its destination.

"Itai!" yelled the blond whose wrist was grabbed in a vice grip.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, loser?" asked a teen male that looked similar to Sasuke, only he had shorter hair and exposed more skin.

"Yeah, loser!" screamed Sakura and Ino simultaneously as they stood up, ready to beat him up for attempting to touch their guy.

"Um, I was just going to see if Sasuke was alright," answered the blond, slightly confused, and still in pain because his wrist was not released from the older teen's strong grip. "Could you please let go?"

Smirking, the teen asked, "Why, you little loser?"

"Because it hurts."

"Oh, it hurts?" Smirking, he tightened his grip on the blond.

* * *

"What the fuck is going on?!" yelled Kiba to his friends. "He's hurting Naruto!"

"Are you sure?" Chouji asked, not positive because he was not really looking, due to his distracting potato chips.

"His face is in pain! Mother…" Kiba growled, ready to beat that guy to a pulp.

* * *

"Let him go, Sai," Sasuke said. Though it wasn't a threat or urgent, just a simply sentence, Sai knew not to cross the young Uchiha. He released the tan wrist hurriedly. Naruto pulled his sore wrist near his face and began rubbing it soothingly with his other hand.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

Turning to face Naruto, Sasuke glared, which wholly confused the blond. "Get out of here, loser."

"Hahahaha, loser," laughed the girls.

"He," snorted Sai.

"Sasuke," began the blond, as he once again tried to lay a hand on his shoulder, "why are—"

For a second time that day, Naruto's wrist was grabbed in a grip, but this time, he felt as if his wrist was a nut's shell, and _Sasuke's_ grip was a nutcracker.

* * *

"That fucking bastard!" yelled Kiba.

"You guys, Naruto needs our help," announced TenTen urgently.

* * *

"Don't fucking touch me, you dumbass," spat the raven coldly.

"Sasuke?" questioned the blond, his eyes frantically searching his 'friend's' for an answer to why he was acting like this. _What's going on? _Naruto's mind raced. _Is this Sasuke. I know it_ is_ Sasuke, but, why is he acting like this? _"Aren't we friends?" _Friends forever, remember?_ he thought hopefully, recalling their jovial pasts _together_.

"Yeah, right!" screeched Ino, Sakura, and some fangirls he saw earlier that morning. "You fag! You just want to touch him!"

Naruto let out a "wha?"

Glaring at Naruto, Sai asked darkly and ready to engender a fight, "You're a **fag**?"

"He is! He was at basketball practice this morning, in the bleachers! He was _staring_ at all of the guys!"

_Ow, _screamed Naruto's mind as Sasuke's grip tightened even further, _I think he's _trying_ to break my wrist! _Tears escaped Naruto's eyes.

"Oh, my god! He's crying!"

"What a baby!"

"Crybaby!"

"You asshole!" yelled Temari vehemently at Sasuke as she dug her nails deeply into his the skin of his forearm, the pressure causing him to temporarily open his grip and allow Naruto's wrist freedom.

Covering his face, Naruto ran from the scene.

Completely pissed off, Temari couldn't even speak, or more appropriately _yell_ at the bastard. The people at the table could feel the murderous aura surging from her body as she sent death glares at him for a good five seconds while shaking her head _I knew he couldn't be trusted. _With her nose quivering in fury, a glare, and a final shake of the head at Sasuke, she turned on her heel and ran after her friend.

"I bet she's a dyke," rumored Ino.

"Yeah…."

* * *

Temari sprinted quickly to find her emotionally, physically, and mentally wounded friend. She caught up with Hinata in no time in the hall.

"Where's he going to?"

"I don't know," replied Hinata worriedly.

Each pushing past a metal door, the girls heard Kiba yell, "Naruto, STOP!"

Now, their other friends were doing the same. "STOP!"

**SCREEEEECH**.

**THUD**.

But it was too late. Completely blind sighted by tears and millions of thoughts, Naruto ran out of the school building and into the street, trying to cross it, trying to return to where he was at the beginning of the day—happy and excited, not forlorn and heartbroken like he was now.

"Oh, my, god!" yelled the driver of the van in horror as exited his vehicle and ran to the boy he sent flying forty feet.

"Sasuke…." whispered the blond sorrowfully before his vision of baby blue clouds transformed into a black oblivion.

"Someone call 911!"

"Oh, my god, oh my god, oh my god. I couldn't stop in time! I'm so sorry. He shouldn't have been walking. I had a green light! I'm so sorry!" cried the driver in despair.

**BRINNGGGGGG!** sounded the school bell which ended lunch and began passing period. The gang of friends surrounded the bleeding blond. A few were crying. Others were imbued with ire and worry.

"He'll never hurt you again, Naruto," swore his prankster friend while squeezing his hand gently.

"Never," promised Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuruo, TenTen, Lee, Neji, Gaara, Chouji, Hinata, and Shino as they heard sirens from the near-by hospital approaching them.

**END CHAPTER 7**

I've seen the spellings kankuro, kankurou and kankuruo, so I might use whichever of them.


	8. The Explanation

Man! I totally feel like writing an _Initial D_ yaoi story…

**Begin Chapter 8**

Proctors circling the campus saw eleven students huddled over a bloody mess and a frantic man pacing the asphalt, not knowing what to do. They revved up their vehicles to the gruesome scene.

Seeing ambulances heading their way, a proctor yelled, "Everyone, move!" while motioning them closer to the school with her hands. "Give the medics room!"

The worry felt by the wounded blond's friends was allayed when they saw white vans with the word 'Ambulance' painted red and backwards across the front of the vehicles pull up to them.

As soon as the medics exited their vans and closed the doors shut, the driver involved in the accident, his heart drowning with guilt, immediately ran up to the medics. "I'm so sorry!" he screamed while grabbing onto one medic's shoulder. He cried onto his shoulder, "I'm so, so sorry! I couldn't stop in time!"

Another medic pulled the penitent man from his partner and rubbed his back soothingly. "It was an accident." He then looked to the people in the area and sighed in relief as he saw an adult. He gave her a pleading look and shifted his eyes to hysterical man. She understood. The medics would be delayed with a dolorous man impeding their way, constantly yelling and grabbing onto them.

"Sir," she spoke softly, "come here." She pulled him over to the curb and sat him down and sat with him.

Two ambulances wouldn't normally have come for an incident like this, but since all they heard on the phone was, "Help…killed…blood everywhere! Students at school…sorry…! Broken bones…blood! Boy…." two were sent, assuming that multiple students had been injured. The four medics looked at the tangled mess. They could instantly see that bones were broken and not in their proper places. They all shook their heads, saddened that this happened to such a young boy.

"Okay, boys," exclaimed the oldest medic to the other three, "get a gurney. I guess we all could stay here for now. We aren't needed for any other emergencies."

At top speed, two brunette medics ran to the back of their van and took out a gurney and returned to the boy.

"Alright." He sighed out as he looked at Naruto's unconscious form. "All four of us will lift him onto the gurney. Got it?"

"Hai," they exclaimed.

The senior man cogitated as to how they should lift the body onto the padded stretcher. He didn't want them to break any more bones or cause him further pain.

"Okay…"  
The younger medics looked to him for instruction.

"Right. Okay. Ryosuke," he directed to one man, "you will lift him up from behind his back—gently—and hold his arm out straight. Don't let it fall limply to the ground. You two," he said looking at the other men, "one hand under his lower back side, the other holding a leg up. Got it?"

"Hai."

"On the count of three. One, two, three."

They lifted the body swiftly, and gently, and settled it on the gurney. Ryosuke shuddered, in slight disgust, as he looked at the boy, remembering the feeling of carrying him. He noticed Naruto's shoulder was dislocated and his was arm broken at the elbow. He knew that if he didn't hold his arm securely when he elevated him, it would have hung in an abnormal manner—a very abnormal manner. He shuddered again at the image in his mind. The arm would have swung to-and-fro aimlessly, swaying like jell-o.

"Will he be alright?" The frightened, young voice brought him out of his thoughts. He saw several students, no question the blond's friends, looking at him and his colleagues with teary, hopeful eyes.

"With proper care and time to heal, he'll be A-okay." He gave them all a reassuring smile and nod. "Eh?" he let out as he heard a bell ring loudly. "Ah! You kids have school! You better get to class!"

"But--!"

"No," he cut in while shaking his head. "School. We'll take your friend to Leaf Hospital. Visit then! Go, go, now!" He turned his back and went to open the back of the van for the medics and patient.

The ten friends looked on with worry. This was their friend. They should be with him. The three medics looked at them with sorrow. This was too traumatizing for kids their age.

They elevated the gurney to its full height and before they wheeled it away, Ryosuke said to them, "he'll be fine."

After mournfully watching the van speed away with its lights flashing, the proctor exclaimed, "Everybody come with me." She helped the driver get in the passenger side of her vehicle, which resembled a golf cart, and then sat in the driver's seat. "One of you can sit with him," she informed while looking to her fellow proctor, "if you want. If not, we're all heading to the cafeteria right now to get all the details on this tragic incident."

She led the way and the twelve people followed behind. Neji put his arm around his cousin who was crying quietly. "N-neji," she cried and pressed the side of her head against his muscular arm. He held her tighter. He knew she used to have a crush on their blond friends a few years ago, but those feelings subsided. Now they were close friends.

"That _fucking _bastard," seethed Temari in a low voice full of hatred to her brothers. "I'm going to **kill** him."

"Shh, calm down, Tem," said her twin quietly. "Not so loud. The proctors will hear you."

She wanted to yell _I don't give a fuck_ but she also didn't want to get suspended, or expelled for making threats, from school. "We have to teach that fucking prick a lesson," she said in a softer tone.

They nodded in agreement.

Kiba was digging his nails into his palms the entire time and a few angry tears escaped his eyes. _Fuck!! _He recalled his friend's pained face in the cafeteria; his tearful face as he ran out of the cafeteria; his bloody, tear-streaked face unmoving on the pavement. He let out a choked sob. _I should have done something. I should have…_

Lee saw his friend's ire and attempted to cheer him up during this hard time. "Hey, Kiba," he bellowed in feigned jollity. "Stress and sulking give you more wrinkles, you know." He put his arm around the gray jacket. "Come on," he said, pulling him closer to him, "don't sulk." Automatically, he finished with, "The joys of youth!"

While glaring, Kiba said coldly but quietly, "Shut, up!" and pushed the green-clad boy lightly off and away from him.

"Lee," TenTen reproved.

His shoulders slumped down. "I didn't mean to say that."

She shook her head. "Leave Kiba alone."

He nodded. "Hai."

Chouji and Shino walked side-by-side, not expressing their ideas to anyone else.

_I'll shove chips down his throat_ thought Chouji while munching on his xanthic potato chips.

Like Kiba, Shino's hands were fisted and his nails were digging into his pale palms, but nobody could see them in his tan jacket's pockets. If one were to take off his sunglasses, they'd cower in fear from the look in his eyes. His russet eyes had a murderous intent emanating from them. _Maybe Dad will let me borrow his flesh-eating bugs…_Shino smirked. How he'd love to see that fucking Uchiha rot.

Reaching the cafeteria, everyone sat down. "We'll wait for the police to come before we begin our questioning."

"Police?" asked the driver. "Am I going to jail?" he wailed. "I have a family to take care of!"

"Shh, shh," soothed the proctor, while looking at the other proctor and rolling her eyes, causing him to laugh. "You called it in, right?"

"Hai," replied the other proctor. "They should be here soon."

Just then, two police officers walked through the cafeteria doors.

"So what happened?" questioned an officer with grizzled hair.

"It was me!" bawled the driver. He gripped the officer's shoulder and yelled, "I didn't mean to. It was an accident! I had a green light! I couldn't stop in time! I'm sorry…."

The officer pried the palsied hands away from his uniform and pushed the man back. "Tenki, you can handle him."

_Damn_ thought the other officer. _Why does he always give me the hysterical ones to question?_

Tenki pulled the blubbering man thirty feet away from the others to question them.

"Okay, so what happened here," inquired Officer Tenishi.

The friends looked at each other. Neji spoke up, "our friend Naruto crossed the street while not looking, and while he," he referred to the driver, "had a green light. The driver couldn't brake in time. Thus, our friend was hit and injured critically. And, as the driver said, it was an accident and he didn't intend to hit our friend"

"What is your name, young man?"

"Hyuuga Neji."

The officer wrote down the name. "What's Naruto's last name?"

"Uzumaki."

"Why was Naruto running into the street with looking?"

Neji looked to the others. They all gave each other looks, asking what they should say.

"I don't know," answered Neji. He wanted to emphasize 'I,' but then the officer would know someone else in the group knew exactly what happened. Neji had come late to their lunch table and only saw Sasuke grab his friend's wrist, and from Naruto's face, it must have been quite hard. Temari probably knew more of what actually transpired.

"Uh hm," voiced the officer, not quite believing his story. "Were you kids playing a game?"

"No!" they all yelled angrily at the asinine question.

"Okay," he simply said while writing on his pad. _They're telling the truth on that one_.

"Does it really matter?" Kiba spat. "Naruto just wasn't thinking straight. That led to this."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "What's your name?"

"Inuzuka Kiba."

"I'd like to know _why_ Naruto wasn't thinking straight."

Kiba looked at his friends.

"You know, I see all your glances at each other. What are you guys hiding?"

Did the officer really need to know what happened beforehand? How the hell was that pertinent?

Temari spoke up heatedly, "some assholes hurt our friend. _That's _what happened beforehand."

"Tem," whispered Kankurou worriedly. He didn't want her using vulgar language in front of an authority figure.

"What did these 'assholes' do to your friend?" he questioned everyone, unfazed by the blonde's choice of words.

All their eyes slightly widened in surprise. They felt more at ease. He's a cop, they figured, he'd probably heard all the offensive language before.

Kiba growled, "they almost broke his wrist."

"They?"

"Some fucking pricks."

"Do you know their names?"

The friends looked at each other. Should they say their 'friend's' name? Sasuke's name?

"Uchiha Sasuke," Kiba said with dudgeon.

The others looked at him. He actually said who it was. Well, can't turn back time.

"Uh huh. You said 'they.' Who are the others?"

Kiba looked at his comrades. They shrugged. "He's the only one I knew of them," Kiba said honestly.

"Do you know what caused this?"

Kiba had no idea. "I have no idea." As he watched the officer write, he added, "Naruto, he's one of the most altruistic people I know. I don't know why anyone would want to hurt him. He's selfless and would never hurt another living thing."

"Or bug," added Shino quietly.

_Or leg warmers_ thought Lee.

"Or chips," said Chouji.

Shikamaru laughed at his friend's statement and thought foolishly while simpering: _or clouds_.

"Or dogs," Kiba said. "My dog used to bite him in the ass and Naruto would never hurt Aka!"

The officer chuckled. "Okay, alright. Can you guys describe who else was involved in this?"

"Some pink-haired and blonde-haired bimbo. And some loser _guy_ who exposed his midriff."

"Right," said the officer while nodding.

"Any ideas why they would hurt your friend?"

They shook their heads.

"Anybody have any last words to say?"

They shook their heads. "But what's going to happen to him?" asked TenTen about the driver.

"It was an accident, right?"

They nodded.

"Do you think he should be punished?"

"No," most of the group responded.

"Right," he replied. "He won't go to jail. We'll probably fine him for driving too fast. From what I heard of your friend's injuries, he must have been driving much more than 25 mph to cause those injuries. We'll have the driver go to a psychiatrist or therapist…"

"I'm SORRY!"

Everybody in the cafeteria heard the driver scream that. They looked to where he was and noticed the other officer had his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"He must have been the most hysterical one I had Tenki handle. Poor guy," he said. "The driver must have been repeating that for the past however many minutes I've been talking to you kids."

"My ears would bleed from all that yelling," said Kiba, impressed with Officer Tenki.

"I know," chuckled Tenishi. "Good thing I got Tenki earplugs."

"Ah," let out the teens, realizing how the other officer could just sit there. If they were in his position, they'd be covering their ears with their hands.

"Wait!" yelled Kiba.

"Hm?" asked the officer.

"You're not going to talk to that _Uchiha_, are you?"

"Well, we'd like to have the whole story."

"Could you not? Anyway, he'd probably lie to you."

Behind Kiba, most of his friends were nodding. The officer considered this.

"What good could come of it anyway?" Kiba asked with hope.

"Well, if what you told me was true, 'that Uchiha' could be suspended. Purposefully injuring a student is a crime. You know that, _right_?" he looked pointedly at the teens. His gut feeling that they'd want revenge against the Uchiha was confirmed when they all were taken aback and held disappointed countenances. "Do you really not want me to question him?"

They nodded. "Alright, but I'll leave a report with your principal about this incident. A school campus should be haven to you kids. It should be safe. If that Uchiha Sasuke is threatening that safety, he should be taken away from the campus."

"Hai. Thank you!"

The officer smiled. "Be safe," he said before leaving and saving his partner from further remaining in the presence of the overly contrite man.

**End Chapter 8**

That was quiteeeeee long. I think my longest chapter of all my stories so far. Um, **REVIEWS **appreciated.

Next Update: Um, I'm planning on updating my stories in a particular fashion. It will be a circuit.

1) The troubles of teenage life

2) What the accident caused

3) Drowning

4) I want to F you

After doing a chapter for one story, the next chapter I'll type is for the next story. The only reason it will change is if I get **a lot **of reviews for another chapter of a story. Then, I'll do a chap for the story instead.

I've got a few oneshot ideas and new stories I wanna type. Blah. But I'd rather watch _initial d! _hahaaaaaa I should be studying though…


	9. Author's Note: Bad News

_**Author's Note**_

Dear Readers,

I am sorry to inform you all of **very** bad news. The laptop that I've been using for the past year is whacked up. I do not know what's wrong with it, but whenever I turn it on, it, most of the time, does not start up. When it does happen to start up, after a few minutes the screen turns black..

That laptop is the apparatus I've been using to type up my stories. Without it…it's going to take a much longer time to update. No one, and I mean **no one**, knows what **I **do on the internet. Sure, you all know me, i-love-naruto-yaoi, as a yaoi-loving reader/writer, but no one--not my friends nor my family--know what I, my real identity, do.

I have several _Naruto _stories written up and in a notebook, but it is too risky--extremely risky--to bring to _that _to my high school and type it up on a computer where a young, pure-minded teenager will most likely see what I'm typing. Gosh, I could get suspended, or expelled, for having something of that nature on campus.

I live at home. I live at home where seven other people want to use one of the two computers that we have. Having time to type a story _without _them watching: **very** limited.

The SAT and college applications are my priorities for the next couple months. I probably _will _have spare time after that, it's just that I probably won't be able to get on a computer to update.

Gomen!!

-i-love-naruto-yaoi


	10. Just Believe It

Okay, I just put a chapter for "drowning" and now I'm gonna allow myself one more chapter before getting back to studying.

I'd like to post for my "What the accident caused" but I haven't written out the next chappy. Hard (and time consuming) for me to juss type at the top of my head.

_ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT ZOTxZOT_

**Begin**

The eleven witnesses to the hit-and-remain-crying incident retrieved their backpacks and headed to sixth period. The first day of school and _this_ happens. All of them even missed their fifth period class.

Kiba entered his sixth period tardy.

"You're late," said the teacher as she heard the door open.

"Umm, I," Kiba didn't know what to say. I'm late because my friend got hit by a car and now his limbs are broken and then I had to talk to the police? Kiba was going to give bits of what happened, but just not in front of the entire class whose eyes were glued to his stuttering state. The dog lover swiftly moved to the teacher's desk. "There was a terrible accident and I was told an e-mail would be sent to all the teachers informing them—"

"Ah. Hai. I just began reading the e-mail. What's your name?" she inquired without once looking at him.

"Inuzuka—"

"Kiba?" she finished for him as she read his name in the e-mail.

"Hai."

"My, my…terrible."

"Hai." Gravity seemed to be having a huge effect on Kiba's lips. As the corners of his lips dragged down slowly, tears wanted to fall from the dog lover's eyes. He bit his bottom lip to prevent himself letting out any noises. "It is," he said sadly, remembering his friend's nearly-lifeless body.

Anko-sensei looked up. She pushed forward a box of tissue towards Kiba. "Clean up, if you'd like, before turning around. Unless you'd like your peers to see you in such a saddened state."

Kiba quickly grabbed some tissue and dabbed at his eyes. He threw away the soiled ones, took a few more, and stuffed them in his pocket before turning around and bravely facing the class who stared harder at him than before. Kiba quickly turned around again with a question mark on his face.

"Sit anywhere you'd like today," Anko-sensei said, knowing what was on the boy's mind.

"Hai. Arigatou."

Kiba looked for a seat near the back so nobody could see him if he started to breakdown and found one. Sitting down, he put down his backpack on his desk and rested his arms and head on it.

"Okay," Anko-sensei began, "we seem to be missing one person." She shook her head while lightly flicking her tongue on the top of her mouth, showing some sort of annoyance. "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Kiba's head shot up. _I forgot we had sixth period together!_

A girl—a very attractive girl—raised her hand.

"Yes?" asked the teacher.

"He's probably late. I saw him this morning."

"Hai," nodded the teacher slowly. "**Really** late."

Kiba shot his hand in the air.

"Kiba-kun?"

"Um, actually." A knot formed in his throat. "Uzumaki Naruto won't be here because, he was, involved in _**that thing**_."

"Oh!" responded the teacher, shocked. "Hai, hai. Okay, class, it seems the class is complete today. Nobody's tardy."

"Hey, what about that guy?!" one male student yelled.

Kiba glared at the back of that guy's head. _He's talking about me, isn't he?_

"What guy?" inquired the teacher.

He turned around. "That guy who was fifteen minutes late! He was tardy."

"No, he was not. Now, can you please not disrupt the class? Or would you like a detention?"

The boy instantly shut his mouth, crossed his arms, and sulked in his seat. Snickers were heard around the room and he glared at anybody who looked at him.

"Today we will…"

The bell signifying the end of the school day rang and the students jumped out of their seats.

"Finally" and "YES!" could be heard everyone.

Most of the class left, but Kiba still remained, moving slower than he ever did in his entire life. _Naruto_ he thought. _Dammit! Why did this have to happen?!_

"Are you okay?" asked the girl that raised her hand earlier during class.

Kiba opened his eyes and looked at the girl. _Hot outfit_ he thought as he eyed the brilliant red corset shirt and the short black skirt.

"Are you okay?" she repeated.

"Oh!" Kiba said as a blush crept onto his face. He shrugged and whispered, "Not really."

"Oh? What's wrong?"

He looked into the girl's eyes. "Are you friends with Uzumaki Naruto?"  
She made she they were talking about the same person. "Bubbly character. Likes the color orange. Blond hair. Loves ramen. That Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hai."

"I just met him today and I like him. I think we're going to become friends."

Kiba nodded as he was contemplated. He could always sense if someone was good, or bad. Like that damned Uchiha Sasuke. He clenched his fists and shut his eyes in rage.

"Hey, what's the matter?" the girl asked, noticing the sudden change in the other boy, the same reason why she asked him earlier if he was okay.

"You won't hurt, Naruto, will you?"

"Nani? Why would I?"

"I can trust you?"

"Hai."

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba. I met Naruto eight years ago. We were five and in kindergarten. In short, we've been friends ever since kindergarten. He's one of my best friends. I care about him and I love him as I do all my other friends." He sighed. _Naruto…_ "Today, there was an accident."

The girl gasped. _Oh, my God_ she thought. _Did Naruto die_? "He didn't, die, did he?" she asked slowly.

Kiba looked up at her quickly. "No, no…but he is in the hospital. The medics say he'll be fine…"

"That's good. I'm sure he'll be fine. He's got a great spirit. Believe it!"

That caused Kiba to chuckle, which was good for him because he didn't want to be sniffling in front of this girl.

"He already rubbed off on you?"

"Believe it!" she repeated and they both laughed. "Oh, by the way, I'm Ugada Kotone." She extended her hand.

"Oh, right. Sorry I forgot to ask." Kiba shook hands with her.

"Look," she began as she took out a piece of paper and a pen, "this is my phone number and cell number. Could you call me to tell me how he's doing?" She handed him the paper.

Kiba took it. "Sure, of course! Um, do you have time to talk now? Or do you have to leave?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I thought I'd just inform you of what happened to Naruto."

"Ah! Sure, I have time. Hey," she lightly touched his shoulder, pushing him towards the exit, "I think we should go. I think Anko-sensei also wants to leave and she can't if we're still here."

"Oh! Yeah. Right," he chuckled.

They exited the classroom.

"Where do you want to talk?" Kotone asked.

"How about over there?" he asked pointing to a table under a tree.

"Sure. Could you just give me a minute, please? I have to call someone."

"Sure," he answered before heading to the tree.

Kotone took out her carnation-colored cell phone and called her friend.

"Hey, Nanami!"

"Kotone! Where are you? The girls are waiting for you."

"Gomen! Something extremely important came up."

"Eh? You're not ditching us are you?"

"No! Of course not!"

"I'm just kidding," her friend laughed. "I know you, Koto-chan. I know you'd never lie. Well, be safe at your 'important' thing. I'll talk to you later. Tell me what happened!"

"Hai," Kotone said to her best girl friend. "I'm sorry for making you wait! Tell everyone I said 'I'm sorry!' I just really—"

"Maa, maa (1). No need to explain now. Tell me everything later, Koto-chan. No big deal!"

"Arigatou!"

"Ja!"

"Ja!"

_Call ended_.

Kotone closed her phone and smiled. Nanami-chan was always understanding. Kotone headed over to Kiba.

"Hey, sorry about the delay," she said.

"No problem. Anyway," he with a huge exhale, "are you ready?"

"I think so."

"Last year, Naruto would probably say he had 12 close friends. **This year**, right now, I think he'd say he has 11 close friends. They are: Aburame Shina, Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, TenTen (2), Hyuuga Neji, who is Hyuuga Hinata's older cousin, Sabakuno Gaara, Sabakuno Temari, Sabakuno Kankurou, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji (3), and me. Sorry for giving all those names at one time….Anyway, yeah, one person is missing. The others wouldn't want me to tell you **his** name—the guy that we all **hate**. I don't know how Naruto feels about him, but all of the people I just mentioned hate him, and if we could get away with it, we'd… He used to be best friends with Naruto. They were friends before **I** met Naruto! But, this year," Kiba nose and lips scrunched together in rage, "he, hurt Naruto."

"What did he do?"

"Naruto, he's a semi-sensitive guy. **This guy** was Naruto's **first** friend. So you can imagine how Naruto's bond might be with him. Anyway, today, **TODAY**," Kiba clenched his fists again. _I should have done something_. "Today, he probably broke Naruto's heart."

"What did he do?"

"He acted as if he'd never seen Naruto before. He acted as if they haven't been friends for NINE DAMN YEARS. He, _physically_ injured Naruto. Then he stopped and then **his friend** hurt Naruto. TODAY. It all happened today, and I, I didn't do anything." Kiba swallowed hard. "I could see the tears in Naruto's eyes as he was talking to **that guy**, as **that guy** later nearly broke Naruto's wrist!"

"He didn't!"

"He did! Naruto left the cafeteria, running, blinded by tears, running to where his feet carried him." Kiba paused and took a deep breath.

_This is it_ Kotone thought. _The devastating news_…

He blindly ran out into the street, at the same time a speeding car was coming.

Kotone gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "No!"

Kiba nodded sadly. "He got hit. Hard. Freaking hard." Kiba hit his fist on the table. "He..." Now it was hard for Kiba to talk. He swallowed hard again and willed himself to not cry. "There was blood everywhere. His body," Kiba shook his head at the thought. "Broken."

"No," said the girl in disbelief.

"His arms, his legs, a lot of body parts."

"Oh my gosh."

After a minute of breathing in through his noise and out in an 'O' of his mouth, Kiba informed, "He was taken to Leaf Hospital. A bunch of us are going to visit him later today. Would you like to come with us?"

"Oh, I'd like to, but I have some work to do to today. I think I'll visit him tomorrow."

"Hai," Kiba said, understanding.

"Hey, Kiba?"

"Yeah?"

"You probably wanted to call 'that guy' something other than 'that guy,' right?" she asked, attempting to slightly lighten the mood, but also curious.

"Hehe. Yeah. I think all of us would."

"What's his real name?"

Kiba wanted to tell her, but knew Naruto wouldn't want word of this to get around. He didn't want word that his former best friend hurt him. The dog lover shook his head. "Gomen. I can't."

"Hai. I understand."

They both stood up.

"I better let you go," Kotone said sadly. "He'll be alright," she assured Kiba.

"'Believe it', right?" Kiba asked.

"Yes," she replied with encouragement. "Just believe it."

"Hai. I believe it."

**End Chapter 9**

_**Reviews appreciated!**_

(1) I know I've heard/seen this before, but I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANS. I thought it just sounded realllllly nice at that part in the convo lol. neone know what it means?

(2) hahaa DOES TenTen have a last name?

(3) ehh! Sorry, I forgot what CHouji's last name is…what is it?


	11. Telling the Mom

Hey you guys, =]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have a few weeks until I go back to school. I'll probably get a few chapters or even finish my "What the Accident Caused" before that time because I already know how the stories going to end. As for this story, it'll take a longer time to get chapters out because there are a lot of details to sort out.

**Begin Chapter 10 Begin Chapter 10 Begin Chapter 10 Begin Chapter 10 Begin Chapter 10**

At 5 pm, Narutos' group of friends all headed to Leaf Hospital with flowers, plush foxes, and get well cards in hand. Upon entering the hospital, Temari asked a nurse sitting at the front where they could find the blond.

The nurse remembered seeing Naruto get wheeled in several hours earlier and recalled his state. The group of friends noticed her sadness and prayed to God she wasn't going to say he died. "I'm so sorry about what happened to your friend, but don't worry! We have exceptional doctors here!"

_Holy shit _Kiba thought in angry relief. _People in hospitals shouldn't begin sentences with "I'm so sorry about what happened to your friend…"_

The rest of friends all thought the same thing as their heart beat began to beat properly again from its sudden cessation.

After the nurse told them what room they could find the blond in, the group left to find the room. Since the door to Naruto's hospital room was shut, Neji looked through it's small rectangular window and saw a woman sitting by the bed, holding Naruto's hand.

"You guys," Neji said quietly, "Naruto's mom is in there with him."

"Should we come back later or another day?" Hinata asked.

"Maybe we should knock and see if she's okay with us visiting Naruto right now?" asked Kiba.

"What if she doesn't want to be disturbed right now?"

The friends didn't know what to do. Maybe Uzumaki-san wanted to be alone with her son. But what if she's always there, and wants to be alone, when the group wants to visit Naruto? Then they'd never get a chance to visit him. And if they never visit him, and his condition gets worse when they're unaware and at school…

The group's chatter was broken as a nurse walked through their circle and knocked softly on Naruto's door.

Soon the door opened up to reveal a red and teary eyed woman with long blonde hair. She looked at her son's friends and they all looked down.

"It's time that I check on your son," the nurse informed.

Tsunade opened the door wider and stepped aside. The nurse entered and went to Naruto. "Well, come in!" Tsunade said, trying to sound warm through her cracking voice, to the others as they kept staring at the ground.

The high school students entered the room and put their get well gifts in any vacant spot that they saw. Once doing that, they all hugged Tsunade one by one, saying "Sorry" into her ear which caused her to choke up and cry each time.

The friends watched as the nurse looked at the ECG monitor and wrote notes down on her clipboard.

"His condition is stable, Uzumaki-san," the nurse informed to Tsunade.

Tsunade didn't need telling; she was a doctor in a neighboring city and could tell her son was healing just fine.

"Thank you, nurse," Tsunade said politely.

After the nurse left, Tsunade became a lion. "Who hurt him?" she inquired fiercely. She had noticed earlier that her son's wrist was swollen and there was slight bruising around it—bruise marks that looked like fingers grasped him tightly. Tsunade needed to know who she was going to hurt for hurting her son.

"Naruto getting hit by a car was an accident—"

"By some stupid fast driver," Tsunade said. "I know that, but _who_ nearly broke Naruto's wrist?" she asked slowly.

The friends glanced at each other, different questions running through their heads: Did she read the police report? It didn't say Sasuke's name? What…?

"I got here only an hour ago," she sighed, looking at them. "I was in surgery when Naru's incident happened. My colleagues wouldn't tell me about it until after I got out of surgery, which was around 3:30. All the doctors here told me was Naruto crossed the street when the cars had a green light. He got hit. He's in this condition.

Tsunade chuckled sadly. "You know, it was just _this morning_, that I told Naruto to cross the street—_that street_ right outside your campus—only after pressing the crosswalk signal and the street post lit up with a figure of walking person. Of course I knew he knew how to cross the street, but I was just being motherly and safe, treating him as if he were going off to kindergarten. But…"

Tsunade broke down and the friends nearest her rubbed her back up and down.

"I can't believe it was just this morning that…" Tsunade sobbed and couldn't continue. The others were on the verge of crying, imagining themselves in her shoes.

Tsunade sniffled and tried to feel stronger. She exhaled deeply and continued her interrogation. "That car hit is inconsistent with Naru's wrist's state, and I _highly_ doubt any of the medics, doctors, or nurses caused these bruises on his wrist," Tsunade said as her hands gently touched the bruises. "As well," she continued, "he looks like he's been crying, which I again doubt happened after he got hit by the car.

"So please, please, tell me what happened today at school."

The group looked at each other, waiting for someone to talk. Since nobody spoke for 10 seconds, they figured nobody was going to talk, and all began talking at once so Tsunade wouldn't have to wait longer.

"Well…"

"Naruto…"

"Nasty group of…"

"Sasuke…"

"I saw…"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Tsunade bellowed. She couldn't understand what they were saying. "One at time. Now, I heard something about Sasuke. Where is he anyway? Why isn't he here?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke," she said slowly. "Did he have something to do with Naruto's condition?"

She took the teens' silence as confirmation to her question. "That…" _son of a bitch!_ Tsunade thought angrily. "What did he do?" she ground out through her teeth.

Gaara spoke up. "Naruto saw Sasuke eating lunch somewhere and went over to him to ask if he was going to sit with us." Gaara looked at the others to see if he remembered correctly. They nodded.

Kiba continued, "Naruto was going to put his hand on Sasuke's back to get his attention when some guy, one of Sasuke's friends, grabbed his wrist, _hard_."

The teacup in Tsunade's hand shattered as she clenched it in ire. "Who was this guy?" she asked in a deadly tone.

Kiba shook his head, slightly scared now. He had never seen Uzumaki-san like this. "W-w-we don't know who he is. He must have went to a different middle school than us."

TenTen informed, "He wore a shirt that showed his midriff. The only guy I've ever seen wear something like that."

Tsunade nodded. _Good. Then he should be easy to find…_ "Then what happened?"

Shino said, "Then Sasuke said something, that guy let go of Naruto, Naruto said something, then Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist. His grip must have been even harder because Naruto looked in even more pain than he was with that other guy."

_And where were you guys?! _Tsunade thought a bit angrily. She sighed _They must have been scared or not known what exactly was happening with Naruto and the pricks_.

"I went over there," Temari said, "and dug my nails into that bastard Uchiha. When he let go of Naruto, Naru ran out of the cafeteria."

"The next thing we knew," Neji said sadly, "Naruto ran out onto the street and…" he finished by waving his hand palm up over Naruto's body.

Tsunade looked sadly at her son's face and caressed the newly scars that formed there. Even with the three whisker-like scars located symmetrically on either side of Naruto's face, he was still very handsome.

Soon Tsunade's soft eyes became hard and she bit her tongue from yelling out expletives in rage. _That fucking Uchiha _she thought. _Well, he's not a vulnerable four year old boy anymore. He's a brat whose life I will make a living hell."_

**End Chapter 10 End Chapter 10 End Chapter 10 End Chapter 10 End Chapter 10**

Anyone know how to do polls on fanfiction?

Next chapter: (It's probably going to be) Sasuke asking where Naruto is and getting an answer that crushes him.

_ILNY-


	12. Where's the Deadlast?

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Hey guys!

Thanks to everyone who helped me out with my survey a few weeks ago! I really appreciate it!

I'm going to get this chapter out before I forget because I'm absorbed with doing scholarships and contests.

**Begin Chapter 12**

One week after Naruto's accident, Sasuke went over to Naruto's group of friends at lunch.

"Where's that idiot?" he asked in a nonchalant voice.

The group of 10 sat quietly, not answering. Although some of them wanted to glare daggers at the Uchiha, they wanted to give him the cold shoulder altogether and not give him eye contact.

Sai came up behind Sasuke and asked, "What are you doing with these losers?" He looked over the group of friends and snorted. "They must be friends with that gay fool who thought he could sit with us last week."

The whole table was immediately pissed off, especially Kiba who clenched his fists tightly.

"Get, out, of here," Kiba said in a low, angry tone.

Sai smirked and taunted, "And who's gonna make me?"

Kiba stood up and banged his hands on the table. Hinata and TenTen pulled on the sides of his grey, long-sleeved jacket to calm him down and stop him from any violence.

"Why don't you listen to your hoes and sit down?"

This time the every girl at the table clenched their hands, containing their fury.

"You can't take me on," Sai continued.

"You, asshole!" Nobody calls his friends gay or hoes and gets away with it. Kiba tried to lunge at the basketball player but Shino stood up and held him back.

Neji, who just got out of line for food, walked up behind Sai and stood closely behind him. He gripped the younger boy's shoulder and crunched his thumb underneath the shoulder blade. Even though he put no effort into it, he inflicted a huge amount of pain on the other boy, causing him to cringe.

The Hyuuga put his ear close to Sai's ear and said slowly and dangerously to get his point across, "Don't doubt our strength, **freshy**. You may _think_ **he** can't take you on, but _I__** definitely**_can. If I ever see you around this table again, you'll wish you had never been born."

Neji gripped the younger boy's shoulder even harder and pushed him forward, causing him to push Sasuke forward a few inches.

"Now get the fuck out of here," Neji said coldly.

Sai turned around to see who was threatening him. No one made him look like a pussy. He realized it was Hyuuga Neji, known as an exceptional fighter, an honor roll student, and someone who didn't care about getting into trouble, probably because both his parents were dead.

_Shit. He's probably someone who could kill someone and not give a shit_ thought Sai and fled the area.

Neji turned to the Uchiha. "Get out of here, Uchiha."

Sasuke glared at the older boy with long hair.

"Che, I'll leave once you tell me where the deadlast is."

Neji's eyelids widened instantly at the comment and his white eyes filled with pure shock. Sasuke and Naruto used to be friends; for him not to know at all what happened was shocking.

The older teen recomposed himself and replied coldly, "_Naruto_ is none of your business, Uchiha. Now get, the, fuck, out of here."

Unable to control his emotions, Kiba stood up and yelled, "Leave, you asshole! You're the reason why Naruto's—" everybody stood up, trying to cover Kiba's mouth—"dead."

Sasuke's exterior was cold, like always. He snorted. "Like I care what happens to that baka." He proceeded to his table. Sasuke told his basketball friends and cheerleader hoes something before walking back past Kiba's table, smirking, and exiting the cafeteria.

Sasuke walked to a shadowed area and stood with his back against the wall. He was breathing quickly. "He's dead?" he whispered, his heart throbbing with pain, a few tears falling from his eyes. He breathed in a quivering breath. He couldn't stay at school in this state.

He went to the nurse's office and once the nurse noticed him, she bowed. "Uchiha-sama, do you need to lay down?"

He nodded.

"Please come to the other room," she said, leading him to an adjacent room to her office.

Sasuke laid down on a bed and closed his eyes.

"Do you need to go home?" she asked.

He tried not to think about Naruto but images of the blond kept flashing through his mind. Sasuke nodded his quickly, before he turned on his side, his back to the nurse, to let a few tears fall. Images of the blond's smile, his beautiful blue eyes, and memories of his laugh and voice flooded Sasuke's mind. The young prodigy couldn't hold it in anymore and sobbed as quietly as he could while his body convulsed in pain and sadness.

He knew the nurse must have been watching him so he fake coughed, hoping that would explain why he was shaking.

The nurse spoke quietly to Sasuke, "Your brother will pick you up."

Sasuke nodded quickly and the nurse left him to be alone, closing the door. She could tell he needed alone time.

After fifteen minutes, there was a knock on infirmary door Sasuke was staying in. Sasuke wiped his face quickly with his hand. His nose was stuffy and he wanted to blow it, but there was no time as his brother, Itachi, opened the door. Sasuke looked down and to the side, hoping his hair would cover his teary face.

"Sasuke, let's go," his brother said.

They both thanked the nurse and exited her office. After walking ten steps, Itachi realized Sasuke wasn't even walking. He knew something was wrong, but also knew Sasuke wouldn't want to talk about it on school grounds. He walked back to his brother and put one of Sasuke's arms around his shoulder and helped his brother walk to his car. Reaching the car, Itachi unlocked it, opened Sasuke's door, sat him in his and buckled him up. Itachi got on his side of the car and they began their drive home.

For a good five minutes, the brothers sat in silence. Itachi broke the silence by asking in a concerned voice, "What's the matter, Sasuke?"

Itachi took a quick side glance at his brother before returning his eyes back to the road.

"Quiet, eh? Once we get home I better call your friend Naruto to come over, huh? He's the only one who can make you talk. Haha," Itachi chuckled remembered all the times Naruto got Sasuke to talk when they were younger and he didn't want to talk. "We'll force out whatever's bugging you."

Itachi stepped on the break for the red light. He smiled and looked at his brother, knowing that Naruto always made him smile.

Sasuke let out a choked sob.

Itachi quickly said, "Okay. Naruto's out of the picture. I know you wouldn't want him to see you cry."

Sasuke cried even harder.

"We'll—"

HONK.

Itachi was startled by the car's honk behind him. He looked up and noticed the light turned gren. He waved his hand to the driver behind him in apology.

The rest of the ride home, Itachi kept looking at his brother. He wanted to know what was wrong, but decided against it. The brothers remained silent, except for Sasuke's occasional restrained sobs.

At home, Itachi helped his brother out of the car and walk to their front door. The butler opened the door.

"Itachi-sama. Sasuke-saaa—" The butler said incompletely as Sasuke brushed past him. He looked at the older brother who shook his head.

"I don't know," Itachi said, answering the butler's silent question of "What's wrong?"

Sasuke sprinted up to his room, not wanting anyone to see him in his vulnerable state.

He jumped on his bed and cried into his pillow to muffle his mouth.

"No, no, no. He can't be dead. He can't be." He tried to convince himself that Naruto was alive. Naruto was too young to die. _How_ could he have died? He was too nice to die. Sasuke's mind flashed back to all the times Naruto was kind to him, made him laugh, made him smile. Sasuke's heart throbbed with pain and it was hard for him to breathe; his nose was stuffy and his sobs were sporadic.

Sasuke thought to the last time he saw his dobe. It was in the cafeteria one week ago. He thought about what he did to the blond—gripping the boy's hand, calling him cruel names, _making him cry_.

_I made him cry_ Sasuke though sadly, causing him to cry harder. That's the true last image of him that I saw—him crying—because of _me_.

Sasuke shut his eyes tightly as the tears rolled down his face. "I didn't even get to tell him…"

**jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X jump X**

"Kiba!" yelled TenTen. "Why did you tell Sasuke that?"

"That asshole shoulder feel as much pain as he made Naruto feel. That damn traitor. Just ditched Naruto…"

TenTen agreed somewhat. "I know he hurt Naruto, but don't you think that was a _HUGE_ lie?"

Kiba shrugged. "Whatever. It's already been said. And anyway, Sasuke did say he didn't care what happened to Naruto."

Shikamaru said his normal line, "Troublesome."

Shino nodded in agreement.

**End Chapter 12**

Yup. So if you guys didn't get it, in the cafeteria, Kiba lied to Sasuke. Naruto is still alive, but Sasuke doesn't know that.

Next chapter: Uzumaki-san (Naru's mom) encounters…dun dun dun…ITACHI!

_ILNY_


	13. Author Note: Tell me if you can help me

Okay, so as some of you know (from past notifications), I enter a lot of contests with the hope that I will win some money which can help me pay for college things. Most of these contests ask for the public to view and vote for submissions. Because of that, I send out notifications through "new chapters" in fanfiction. People with story subscriptions get sent these notifications and I feel that they may be annoyed by getting notifications when it's not truly a new chapter. I'm _very _sorry to those of you if I annoyed you by doing this.

So, I do not want to do this anymore. I'm hoping this one "chapter" is going to be my last notification to get help from the public.

If you're willing to help me in the future by voting for me in a contest or viewing my work so I get more views, which will probably take only a minute of your time, can you please send me an e-mail at i. love. naruto. yaoi at gmail dot com. (there are three periods in my e-mail address)

Thank you and I appreciate your help,

ILNY


	14. From the Other Uchiha

Friday, March 26, 2010

On spring break. Just got out a chapter for What the Accident Caused. Now will work on this story. Hope to publish a new story for a story I wrote a few years ago.

**Begin Chapter 13**

"How are you feeling, Naruto?" Kotone asked.

Naruto smiled brightly like he normally did. "Not too bad. The doctors say I'm healing extremely fast for someone who was hit by a car. It's my second week in the hospital and most of my bones are already healed. The doctors say they want to run more tests on me and if I'm perfectly fine, I may leave next week! Weirdest thing is, they say and I think, are these scars on my face," he said gesturing with his hands to the whisker-like marks on his cheeks. "They don't seem to be healing."

Kotone smiled. "Well, if your scars don't heal, you'll look cute. You look like a fox with those scars on your cheeks."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks. And that'd be cool. I _do_ love foxes! Oh, and thank you for keeping me up-to-date with English and photography class."

"No problem!" Kotone said brightly. "Anything for a friend!"

"So Kiba tells me you're running for student board?"

"Yup," Kotone replied. "I'm planning to run for secretary. I'd like the president position, but I think, like everyone else who wants the position, that we have no chance against this one guy."

"What? No way! If you want president position, you should definitely run! I'd vote for you and I'm sure a lot of other people would too!

Kotone smiled and shook her head. "Nah, the guy running is really popular. Most of the athletes and other "popuar" people will be voting for him."

"Who is this guy? Is he nice?"

Kotone gave a weird face—one that was trying to be nice. "He's…okay." She paused trying to put things in a kind way. "Some people love him, some hate him. He's really smart and does qualify for the job, but..." Kotone shrugged. "I guess it's up to the public. Oh! And his name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes widened and he let out the breath he had been holding after hearing his ex-friend's name.

Kotone saw Naruto's reaction and asked, "Do you know him?"

"Oh, sort of," Naruto said nonchalantly. He then smiled brightly, "But let's not talk about him! He's not important."

Kotone stared at the blond. She desperately wanted to ask more out of curiosity, but she felt it wasn't the time to do so.

"Knock, knock," Tsunade said as she knocked on Naruto's hospital door and opened the door slowly. She and Jiraiya entered the room and greeted its members.

"Hi, Kotone," the adults both said.

"Uzumaki-san, Uzumaki-san," Kotone greeted bowing to both of them. "I better be going," she said. She turned to Naruto, "Bye, Naruto. Hope to see you at school soon!" She turned to Naruto's parents and bid farewell, closing the door on her way out.

"Nice girl there, Naruto," Jiraiya said, raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Dad!" Naruto screamed. "We're just friends."

"Sure, '_just friends,_'" he said with a perverted smile on his face.

"Mom!" Naruto yelled.

Tsunade whacked Jiraiya on the arm, causing him to be thrown five feet away.

"Thanks, Mom," Naruto said.

"You're welcome, honey," Tsunade said to the fox. "And you, you dirty, old pervert," she directed at the grey-haired man on the floor, "stop saying things like that to our son!"

"What?" Jiraiya asked. "He's at the age where…"

"SHUT UP!" Tsunade and Naruto yelled.

"Hehehe," Jiraiya chuckled, scratching the back of his head. He then added, "Good thing your mom was holding your soup. If I was, no ramen for you, boy."

Naruto's nostrils grew bigger as the scent of different types of ramen filled his senses. "Ah!" Naruto squealed, his blue eyes shining. He reached out his hands to the ramen like a baby asking for his mom to carry him.

"Nuh uh. First, Naru-chan, this is to last you for _the rest_ of today. You can't eat it all now."

"Aww," Naruto whined. "But I'm a growing boy—"

"Yes, you are, Naruto," Jiraiya said, standing up. "And you know what growing boys need?" There was already a perverted smile on Jiraiya's face and as he was about to wiggle his eyebrows again, Tsunade punched him hard.

"You shut up!" she said sternly.

"Look, Naru, I'd normally let you eat all of this, but since you're not out and about, exercising and burning calories like usual, you have to divide how much ramen you're going to eat for today."

"Fine," Naruto yielded. "Give meeeeee," he said, outreaching his hands again like a baby.

Tsunade handed Naruto the bag of bowls of ramen and Naruto rummaged through the bag, taking out napkins, chopsticks, and the bowls.

"Neh, son, you might want to put your lap table on you before you start eating."

"Oh!" Naruto said. "Mom, can you hand me the lap table?"

"Sure, dear," she said grabbing the lap table from Naruto's nightstand and opening the legs to have it stand over Naruto's lap in his seated position on the bed.

Beep, beep. Tsunade's pager went off.

"Sorry, I have to take this." Tsunade exited the room and made a phone call outside.

Jiraiya went over to Naruto and inhaled deeply over his ramen, causing the steam from the ramen to "anime-ly" rise into Jiraiya's nose.

"You know, Naruto-chan," Jiraiya said sweetly, "sharing is caring."

Naruto, with noodles hanging from his mouth and chopsticks in hand near the corner of his mouth, glared at his dad. "Mine!" Naruto whined like a baby.

"You baby!" Jiraiya said. "Sharing is caring, it can be fun!" (1)

Naruto shook his head while gobbling more and more of his ramen, never taking his eyes off his dad.

"Fine. I'll remember this, Naruto…" (2)

Naruto's dad always says that but nothing ever comes of it. The fox simply continued to eat and keep his eyes on his dad.

"Thank you. Page me if anything else arises. Bye," Tsunade ended your phone call on her cell phone.

When Tsunade turned around to go back to Naruto's room, she bumped into someone she had seen in ages.

"Uzumaki-san!" Itachi let out, shocked. "How are you?"

Tsunade glared and clenched her fists. "How am I?" she seethed.

The older Uchiha stepped back. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" she said in a quiet, but deadly tone. "Do you not know what happened to Naruto?"

"No, sorry, I don't," Itachi replied honestly.

Tsunade stared intently into Itachi's eyes. She sighed. Itachi had nothing to do with her son's condition—his **brother** had to do with her son.

"Did something happen to Naruto-kun? When I mentioned Naruto's name last week, Sasuke—" Itachi stopped himself. "Between you and me?"

Tsunade just stared at Itachi for a good ten seconds before she slightly nodded.

"He cried."

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock. That was not what she expected to hear.

"Yeah, please don't tell anyone. Sasuke wouldn't want anyone to know he was crying, especially not Naruto."

"Why was he crying?" Tsunade inquired, skeptical.

"Beats me," Itachi said, shrugging. "The school called me last week, saying Sasuke wasn't feeling well. I drove to the high school to pick him up and I could tell he had been crying for a while. When I told him I'd have to ask Naruto-kun what was bugging him, he started bawling."

Thinking it was impossible, Tsunade's anger towards the younger Uchiha actually lessened, her heart feeling sympathy for the teenager.

"So what did happen to Naruto?" Itachi queried. "I hope he is okay," he said genuinely. "I'd hate for anything terrible to happen to my brother's best friend. He'd be so lonely," Itachi said.

Tsunade sighed again. _Troublesome _she thought. _It looks like Itachi doesn't know there was a falling out between Naru and Sasuke. How much information should I tell him?_

"Naruto's doing fine. He got hit by a car two weeks ago, but he's healing." _Itachi's a good guy. Only time will tell what kind of person Sasuke truly is._

"What?" Itachi bellowed. "And Naruto's been here all this time? I know what kind of food hospitals serve. I am appalled that Sasuke hasn't asked me to drive him here and bring Naruto-kun ramen!"

A small smile played on Tsunade's lips. _You and ramen, Naruto_. _That's what everyone knows about you_.

"I guess Sasuke has other things to think about right now," Tsunade suggested.

"Perhaps," Itachi said. "That's terrible if Sasuke hasn't visited Naruto. I don't think he's been visiting the hospital; the distance from here to school or our residence is too far to walk. What room is Naruto in?"

"That one," Tsunade said, pointing to her son's room.

"Is it okay if—"

Tsunade shook her head. "Not right now." She knew she didn't have to elaborate. Itachi was always docile with her and didn't need further explanation.

"Another time, then," he said. "I'll bring him ramen," he said smiling.

Tsunade smiled. "Naruto would love that."

"I'll leave you to your son," Itachi said, bowing his head. "Have a good day and best wishes to Naruto and your family."

"Arigatou, Itachi-san," Tsunade said.

Tsunade re-entered her son's room.

"Where've you been?" Jiraiya asked his wife. "You left me here with nothing to do but watch our brat son eat his delicious ramen without offering any to me."

Tsunade hit Jiraiya softly. "We can get ramen any time. Let him have his ramen."

Jiraiya pouted then added, "Really, what took you so long?"

"I was talking to someone outside."

"Oh, who?"

"I'll tell you later," Tsunade said in a tone that told Jiraiya not to ask more now.

"Alright, son!" Jiraiya said. "I've got lots of paper at home waiting to be written on! Is there anything else you need?"

Naruto smiled, semi-stuffed with ramen, and shook his head.

Tsunade walked over to her son and kissed him on the forehead. "Love you, baby."

"Love you too, Mom."

"And what about me?" Jiraiya asked Naruto.

"What about you?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You—"

"Love you too, Dad!" Naruto said laughing.

"Love you brat," Jiraiya said squeezing Naruto's shoulder.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Tsunade said, halfway out of the room. "We'll bring more ramen. Believe it!"

"Thank you!" Naruto said gratefully. "Bye," he said as he parents waved goodbye and closed his door.

"So who were you talking to?" Jiraiya asked his wife as they walked to the elevator. He pressed the down button.

"Uchiha."

"Sasuke?" Jiraiya, asked angrily.

They entered the elevator and pressed the lobby floor.

"The other one."

"Itachi?"

Tsunade nodded. "He didn't know about Naruto's accident. He doesn't know that his little brat of a brother and our son aren't friends anymore."

"So he's pretty much clueless about his brother's life right now?"

She nodded. "The only thing he did know was Sasuke cried when Itachi brought up Naruto's name."

They exited the elevator.

"I think the ding of the elevator when we reached the lobby masked your words. Did I hear you correctly? Sasuke _cried_?"

Tsunade nodded again, thinking about the whole situation thoroughly.

Jiraiya's reaction was as if he drank something that tasted awfully nasty. "What? Why would he do that?"

"Maybe Sasuke does care about Naruto?"

"Hm," Jiraiya responded, pensive.

_Only time will tell how Sasuke truly feels about Naruto _the Uzuamakis thought.

**End Chapter 13**

1) From some commercial in real life.

2) My mom says this.

**Next chapter**: Itachi tells Sasuke about Naruto's accident.

_ILNY_


	15. Bathroom?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Yo,

I meant to get a chapter out a few weeks ago after a kind fan who helps me out with other stuff I do asked me to, but I got busy. I have time now, so let me bust out a chapter :D

**Note**: I forgot my notebook of stories/notes at home so I hope I'm remembering my plot correctly…

**Begin Chapter 14**

Naruto was happy when he got back to school. He was back with the most awesome friends in the world, he was meeting new people, and he was on top of the classes he had gone to so far. Boy, he did have the most awesome friends in the world. The injured boy's friends pretty much tutored him while he was in the hospital so he wouldn't get behind and so he would be an "A" student. It was actually a strange feeling to Naruto. He didn't have the best work or study habits in middle school so he barely got any A's.

_ Hmm, this is high school now _Naruto thought as he exited fourth period with Shino walking quietly at his side._ Better start getting A's so I can get into a good college_ Naruto continued.

As Naruto unconsciously began walking towards the cafeteria, Shino grabbed his sleeve softly and directed him in another direction.

"Huh?" Naruto voiced.

The blond soon learned his friends found a new place to eat: on the school's front lawn. He looked around. There were a few other groups on the lawn. One group even had a guitarist while the others in the group were singers.

It was actually quite peaceful eating outside. The grass was lush, there was a refreshing breeze that came every few minutes, and although it was still hot and sunny during noontime, the students didn't feel it because of the huge trees on the lawn that gave them shade.

"How's your first day back?" Kiba asked as he softly punched Naruto in the shoulder.

"Great, thanks!" Naruto said. "And thanks, you guys, for picking up my homework and explaining everything from school! I really, really, realllllllly appreciate it!"

His friends accepted his thanks, saying, "no problem," "of course," and "anytime."

Naruto heard a car whiz by which caused him to look to the street. He stared, reliving what happened to him three weeks before.

"Hey, hey, Naruto," Kiba said softly, pushing the boy back and forth.

"Oh, whoa," Naruto said dazed.

"You okay?" everyone asked.

"Yeah, oh yeah, I'm fine," Naruto said quickly, feeling bad for worrying his friends.

"You sure?" Temari asked.

"Maybe this is a bad spot to eat?" Kiba asked Naruto, trying to make his friend more comfortable. "Is there somewhere else you'd like to eat?"

"No, this is fine!" Naruto said. "It's really nice here."

"Are you sure? Maybe you want to sit in one of the hallways?" Kiba suggested.

"No, no, no."

"Or…we could ask a teacher if we could eat in their class?"

"No, this is fine," Naruto reassured.

"Or—"

"Kiba!" Neji growled.

"What?" Kiba growled back. "I'm just making sure he's okay sitting here for 40 minutes every day!"

Ever since the first day of school, when Kiba just watched as that bastard Uchiha and that stupid guy with the short shirt, as if he was wearing a toddler girl's shirt, hurt Naruto, he vowed to never let any harm come to Naruto again or let Naruto be sad or uncomfortable.

Naruto looked his dog-loving friend straight in the eye. "Kiba, thank you for being so caring."

Kiba quickly looked away. This seemed mushy.

"You are an amazing friend," Naruto continued, "and this is an amazing place to eat lunch. Nowhere is as good as this."

"Hai," Kiba said, nodding, while looking down at the grass.

Neji gently pushed a fist into Kiba's back and looked the younger teen in the eye. They didn't have to talk to know they didn't mean any harm when they snapped at each other. Everything all the friends did to or for each other had good intentions.

**x Jump x jump x Jump x jump x jump x jump x jump x jump x jump x**

When the final bell for school rang, Kotone asked Kiba and Naruto if they could help her carry poster paper from the art room and bring it to the Associated Student Body meeting room.

"Um," Naruto whispered to Kotone, "are we allowed to just get paper out of the art room?"

Kotone giggled. "Don't worry, Naruto. I asked Anko-sensei beforehand if I could have paper to aid in my campaign for the secretarial position. She said yes. After all, we paid a fee to use art supplies."

Kiba and Naruto looked at each other and gave some nods. That made sense.

"You boys are funny," Kotone said and headed to the art room.

The boys followed.

"How much paper do you need?" Kiba asked.

"Hm, how much do you think I should get?" she asked them. "There are two other people running for secretary. I just want to get my name and picture out in as many locations as I can to reach the most people."

"I think this should be enough!" Naruto grinned, holding up **a huge** stack of poster paper.

Kotone laughed.

Kiba shook his head. "I think that might be a little too much, Nar."

Kotone giggled and nodded her head in agreement. "Actually, I think that's way too much," she responded.

Kiba took some of the paper from Naruto and put it down. "Here, is this enough, Kotone."

She nodded. "I think that's much better. Thanks, though, Naruto! Can you guys help me carry those huge posters to the ASB meeting room now? The meeting among current board members is going to begin in a few minutes. The people running for office are 'not required,' but that actually means 'required' to go to the meetings to learn how things are conducted."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"It's not required to observe meetings, but advisors and other board members say if you don't go, others won't take you seriously. You pretty much have to go to have a chance for a position."

"Ah…" Naruto said, slowly understanding what she was saying.

Kiba gave half the posters to Naruto and the trio exited the art room. Kotone grabbed her purse that she left in the adjoining art classroom and picked up her coloring supplies.

"Arigatou, Anko-san!" Kotone exclaimed to the art teacher.

"You're welcome," she said.

The trio exited the classroom and headed to the ASB room.

"So what are you doing after the meeting?" Kiba asked.

"I'm heading over to the cafeteria. My friends are going to help me make posters in there."

They reached the ASB room and quietly entered it. Most of the senior class board was in there.

"We're early," Kotone whispered and motioned the boys to put the posters down at the table she, and the candidates, were to sit at.

"So what now?" Kiba asked.

"If you guys want, you can leave. Or, you can stay and observe with me."

"Sure, we'll watch!" Naruto exclaimed.

The senior board all turned and stared at him.

_Damn, they're one serious group _Naruto thought.

One of them spoke to him, "Hey!"

Naruto froze. _Oh shi…is he going to throw me out?_

"I like your shirt. Is that naruto?" he asked.

Naruto laughed. "Yes, it's naruto," he said referring to the pink swirl on a white circle on his shirt.

"I like putting it in my ramen," the senior guy said.

"Me too!" Naruto exclaimed happily, a bit louder than normal because he was relieved and overjoyed that nobody was mad at him for 'interrupting' or being loud.

"I'm Aki," the guy said. "I'm the president of the senior class."

"Wow!" Naruto said amazed. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Naruto."

"What?" Aki, and the other seniors, chuckled confusedly.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and said with a grin, "My name is Naruto." He put his arm around Kiba and grabbed his body towards him. "My buddy, Kiba, here bought me this shirt for my birthday because he thought it would be funny that Naruto is wearing naruto or something like that, right, **Kiba-kun**?"

"Haha, right, Naruto," Kiba said awkwardly.

"That's cool, man."

"Are you guys running for a position?" a female with long pink hair asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Nope," Naruto said, "but our amazing friend, Kotone, here is! She's running for secretary and we know she'll be amazing at it!"

"Hi, Kotone," the board members said.

"Hi," she said happily. She looked around. "Am I in the right room?" she asked. "None of the other candidates are here."

"That's very bad for them," replied the president. "And, yes, you _are_ in the right room."

"We should begin soon," a baby-blue-haired male said as he looked at the clock. "What time do you have?" he asked. He was looking at Kotone.

"Oh! Um, I have 3:10 but my watch is five minutes ahead."

"What time did we say we were meeting?" asked a blonde.

"3:15," some responded.

"Oh, okay. I think that clock up there is ahead. So it's actually 3:05 and that says 3:20."

"So you were really early," stated the president.

Kotone looked down. "Yes," she said.

"Look up when you speak," said the president.

Kotone immediately looked up, slightly scared.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," the president said. We like to teach the younger students skills and qualities that will get them hired. When you speak, look at the person you're speaking to." As he said this, he looked directly at Kotone.

"Hai," Kotone responded looking at him.

"If you look down, the shows you're not confident with yourself or you're scared. Employers don't want people that are scared. They want confident people that believe in themselves."

"Hai," she said.

"They also like punctual people." The president smiled. "So you're a plus in my book. Are you always early to things?"

"Hai," Kotone answered.

"If it were up to me, you'd get the secretary position. Since it's not, you better be confident in yourself and speak strongly when you campaign to the student body."

"Hai, arigatou-gozaimasu," Kotone said, bowing to the board members.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to use the restroom really fast," Naruto said and headed out the door.

As he turned a corner, he bumped into someone.

"So—" Naruto's apology was cut off as he stared, wide-eyed, mouth agape at the person he bumped into: Uchiha Sasuke.

**End Chapter 14**

Cliffy for ya. Hahaha.

**Next chapter**: OOOH, what's going to happen between the ex friends? That's for you to wait for.

Til next time!

-ILNY S2


	16. Blackout

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! =] Hope you all could celebrate with your loved ones.

And happy holidays to everyone who celebrates other holidays or nothing at all! =]

**Begin Chapter 15**

For a good thirty seconds, the young teens just stared at each other, both with wide eyes and open mouths.

Naruto was the first to make any different movements-he gulped in air, his body suddenly realizing he had been holding his breath the whole time he was staring at the raven.

"Naru—"

Just as Sasuke took a step towards the blond and raised a hesitant hand towards the tan face, someone came around the corner and put an arm around Naruto.

"Ah, Naruto, you're still here!" Kiba exclaimed looking entirely at the blond. Sensing tension, Kiba looked to where the blond had his eyes glued. Seeing the Uchiha, Kiba's eye immediately narrowed and the hand on Naruto turned into a clench. Without a word, the dog lover pulled the blond towards him and pulled him down the corridor.

Sasuke watched their retreating backs, his heart beat increasing the entire time. A rush of emotions was running through him that he felt as if he was having a heart attack. One hand went to brick wall nearby to support him while his other hand clutched at his heart.

"H-he's alive?" Sasuke said aloud, although he meant to just think it. "Wh-what?"

Sasuke literally felt like his heart was going to pop right out of his chest; it was beating so fast and hard and it was getting harder to breathe. His legs suddenly became weak and buckled beneath him, causing him to fall to the ground.

"I don't understand…" Sasuke said to himself. _They said he was dead. I haven't seen him in weeks. Dead! They said he was dead! Was that really him I saw? Was I imagining things?_

Sasuke shut his eyes tightly and envisioned what just happened.

He was walking down the corridor, heading to the ASB room. Someone turned the corner and bumped into him. The other boy was about to apologize but stopped and stared at him and he stared at the other boy. The other boy had blond hair, like Naruto. He had the same bright blue eyes like Naruto. His face had the same bone structure as Naruto's. The only thing different about his face were the three lines on each cheek that looked as if they were whiskers.

Sasuke let out a deep breath. _Maybe I was imagining things? Maybe it was someone that looks like him? Or just someone else and I made myself believe it was him? But Inuzuka was there! So it must be Naruto! But he said Naruto was dead!_

Sasuke's head began to spin.

_Am I imagining things? Maybe that wasn't Inuzuka and I reformed some other boy to make him look like him?_

Sasuke shut his closed eyes even tighter.

The boy he bumped into was wearing that same shirt Naruto wore often in middle school. The dog boy gave it to him as a gift and he loved it because he thought it was funny for Naruto wearing naruto.

Sasuke grabbed his head. _Maybe it wasn't the same shirt? I didn't look too long at the shirt because I was busy staring at the boy's face. Maybe the shirt had a mint on it? Or I just made up what was on the shirt?_

Sasuke clutched at his heart. _WHAT THE FUCK? _Was he going crazy? _Fucking Inuzuka said Naruto died and his other friends looked like that was indeed the truth. That's what I've been believing for two weeks! Were they lying? Did I mishear Inuzuka that day at lunch?_

Sasuke's brain was on overload. Various thoughts ran through his mind. Images of how Naruto used to look in middle school and how "he" looked now flashed in his mind.

"Naruto," was the last thing Sasuke said before his world turned black.

**End Chapter 15**

Sorry it's short. I want to finish up another story first before coming back to this. (And I like leaving things at cliffhangers)

Reviews appreciated! =]

-ILNY


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